/f<S" 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/caseofkoreacolle00chun_0 


The  Case  of  Korea 


By 

Henry  Chung,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

Member  Korean  Commission  to  America 
and  Europe. 

The  Case  of  Korea 

A Collection  of  Evidence  on  the  Japanese  Domina- 
tion of  Korea  and  the  Development  of  the  Korean 
Independence  Movement,  Illustrated,  cloth,  ^3.00 

Senator  Selden  P.  Spencer  says ; “ The  history  of 
this  book  is  illuminating  and  thrilling.  It, deserves 
and  demands  attention.  . . . Hov/  Japan  secured 
control  of  Korea  and  became  her  ‘ protector  ’ and 
diplomatic  spokesman,  and  how  later  Japan  com- 
pletely annexed  Korea,  and  how  the  Korean  people 
proclaimed  the  independence  of  the  Korean  Re- 
public, are  graphically  recited  in  a manner  that  in- 
dicates both  historic  accuracy  and  statesmanlike 
impartiality.” 

The  Oriental  Policy  of  the 
United  States 

With  Introduction  by  Prof.  Jeremiah  W,  Jenks,  Di- 
rector of  Far  Eastern  Bureau,  New  York  Univer- 
sity. With  Maps ^2.00  net 

Literary  Digest  says  : “ A body  of  testimony  that 
provides  the  means  of  forming  an  incontestable  judg- 
ment respecting  the  most  menacing  conditions  in 
the  Far  East.  This  is  a very  rare  case  of  a book 
pat  to  the  minute,  historical,  expository,  and  docu- 
mentary.” 


The  Case  of  Korea 

A Collection  of  Evidence  on  the  Japanese 
Domination  of  Korea,  and  on  the  Devel- 
opment of  the  Korean  Independence 
Movement 


By 

HENRY  CHUNG,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

Member  of  Korean  Commission  to  America 
and  Europe 


Author  of  "The  Oriental  Policy  of  the  United  States,” 
"Korean  Treaties,”  etc. 


With  Foreword  by 
HON.  SELDEN  P.  SPENCER 
U.  S.  Senator  froin  Missouri 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 

JAN  1 6 2008 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


New  York 


Chicago 


Fleming  H. 

London 


Revell  Company 

Edinburgh 


AND 


Copyright,  1921,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 

Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London : 2 1 Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh : 75  Princes  Street 


To  the  memory  of  those 
BRAVE  MEN  AND  WOMEN 


who  s^cffered  martyrdom  in  the  national 
movement  of  /pip  that  Korea  might 
have  restored  independence  this  volume 
is  respectfully  inscribed 


There  is  blood  that  is  silent  and  blood  that 
cries  aloud ; The  blood  of  the  battle-fields 
is  drunk  in  secret  by  the  earth  ; the  peace- 
ful blood  that  is  shed  rises  moaning  toward 
the  heavens  ; God  receives  and  avenges  it 

— Chateaubriand. 


Foreword 


By  Hon.  Selden  P.  Spencer, 

U.  S.  Senator  from  Missouri. 

MERICANS  want  facts.  Justice  is  not 


founded  upon  mere  emotion  or  sentimental 


enthusiasm.  Right  follows  truth,  sometimes 
slowly,  but  always  eventually. 

The  history  of  this  book  is  illuminating  and  thrill- 
ing, It  is  well  worth  the  thoughtful  consideration  of 
all  Americans.  It  deserves  and  demands  attention. 

Korea,  the  historic  patriarch  of  the  world, — more 
than  four  thousand  years  old  when  the  United  States 
was  born — has  a particular  appeal  to  the  conscience 
and  heart  of  our  country. 

On  June  4,  1883,  there  was  proclaimed  a “ Treaty 
of  Peace  and  Amity  and  Commerce  and  Navigation  ” 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  King- 
dom of  Korea  or  “ Chosen,”  which  had  been  agreed  to 
by  the  representatives  of  the  respective  Governments 
on  May  22,  1882,  and  was  formally  ratified  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  (President  Arthur)  on 


7 


8 


FOEEWOED 


February  13,  1883,  after  its  approval  by  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  on  January  9,  1883. 

This  Treaty  inter  alia  provided: 

“ There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  friendship  be- 
tween the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  King 
of  Chosen  and  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  their  re- 
spective Governments.  If  other  powers  deal  unjustly 
or  oppressively  with  either  Government,  the  other  will 
exert  their  good  offices,  on  being  informed  of  the  case, 
to  bring  about  an  amicable  arrangement,  thus  showing 
their  friendly  feelings."  (Italics  mine.) 

This  Treaty  gave  to  Korea  a “ big  boy  ” friend  upon 
whose  strength  and  justice  the  twenty  millions  (pres- 
ent population)  of  Koreans  instantly  relied  with  a 
confidence  that  was  pathetic  in  its  intensity  and  devo- 
tion. 

The  “ Hermit  Kingdom  ” had  lifted  the  latch  and  at 
once  opened  the  door  in  welcome  to  the  world.  Other 
treaties  followed,  but  the  Treaty  with  the  United 
States  was  the  first. 

We  built  the  first  railroad,  the  first  electric  light 
plant,  the  first  water  works  in  Korea;  we  constructed 
the  first  large  Korean  steamboats,  we  equipped  her 
mines  with  modern  machinery. 

Korea,  both  in  spirit  and  In  letter,  lived  up  to  her 
Treaty  agreement,  though,  as  a matter  of  fact,  it  en- 
tirely transformed  her  custom  in  regard  to  foreigners 


FOREWOED 


9 


— a custom  which  had  been  established  for  decades  of 
centuries. 

The  Korean  people  never  changed  this  Treaty.  It 
was  and  it  is  now  their  star  of  hope.  Neither  their 
Emperor  nor  their  Prime  Minister  ever  consented  to 
its  abrogation.  Whatever  may  be  the  diplomatic 
situation  of  to-day,  this  fact  cannot  be  morally  over- 
looked. 

How  Japan  secured  control  of  Korea  and  in  1905 
became  the  “ protector  ” and  diplomatic  spokesman  for 
these  intelligent  and  independent  people,  and  how  later 
Japan  completely  annexed  Korea  and  made  of  it  a 
province,  and  how  the  Korean  people  proclaimed  the 
independence  of  the  Korean  Republic,  are  graphically 
recited — from  the  standpoint  of  Korea — in  a manner 
that  indicates  both  historic  accuracy  and  statesmanlike 
impartiality. 

No  nation  on  earth  can  indefinitely  mistreat  those 
over  whom  it  happens  for  a time  to  have  control. 

There  is  a world  public  opinion  that  in  the  last  an- 
alysis is  absolutely  controlling.  This  opinion  may  be 
slow  in  forming,  but  woe  be  to  that  nation  whose  con- 
duct is  such  as  to  bring  upon  it  the  anathema  of  world 
condemnation.  It  would  be  better  for  that  nation  if  a 
millstone  were  hanged  about  its  neck  and  that  it  were 
drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea. 

Propaganda  skillfully  directed,  vigorously  promul- 


10 


FOREWORD 


gated,  may  temporarily  deceive,  but  in  God’s  own  time 
the  truth  shines  through  the  parted  clouds  and  in- 
stantly the  world  recognizes  the  fact. 

I commend  this  book  to  the  careful  thoughts  of  my 
fellow  Americans.  Its  record  of  diplomatic  and  cur- 
rent events  places  upon  Japan  the  burden  of  explana- 
tion— a burden  which  no  Government  ought  either  to 
hesitate  or  refuse  to  instantly  assume  before  the  judg- 
ment bar  of  the  world. 

Civilization  demands  the  truth — the  whole  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth — and  no  part  of  the  civilized 
world  ought  to  be  more  insistent  for  it,  either  from  the 
standpoint  of  history  or  justice  or  its  own  honor,  than 
the  American  people. 

Selden  P.  Spencer. 

Senate  Office  Building, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Preface 


The  world  is  full  of  tragedy,  and  the  con- 
science of  mankind  is  already  overburdened 
with  the  groans  of  suffering  humanity.  But 
the  greatest  of  national  tragedies  to-day  is  little  known 
to  the  civilized  world.  And  that  is  the  case  of  Korea. 
We  have  wept  over  Armenia  and  Belgium,  but  from 
neither  of  these  lands  does  international  injustice  cry 
more  loudly  than  from  the  little  Hermit  Kingdom  of 
the  Far  East. 

To  the  unsuspecting  Western  peoples,  kept  ignorant 
by  the  Japanese  Government  of  conditions  in  Korea, 
the  Independence  Movement  of  1919  and  Japanese 
atrocities  in  connection  with  it  came  as  a surprise. 
But  the  spirit  of  nationalism,  as  exhibited  by  the 
Koreans  in  1919,  is  simply  a blaze  from  the  smoulder- 
ing fire  that  is  and  has  been  burning  ever  since  Japan 
usurped  Korea.  The  atrocities  committed  by  Japa- 
nese are  nothing  more  than  a part  of  the  system  that 
has  operated  since  the  protectorate  was  established  in 
1906. 

As  to  Korea’s  right  to  self-determination,  no  fair- 
minded  man  would  raise  a question.  Of  all  the  na- 
tions that  obtained  their  independence  after  the  World 

11 


12 


PREFACE 


War,  none  has  a better  title  to  freedom  than  Korea. 
The  Korean  race  is,  perhaps,  the  most  homogeneous  in 
the  world.  Their  history  extends  back  some  four 
thousand  years.  They  have  a civilization  as  great  as 
China’s  in  many  ways,  and  greater  than  Japan’s  in 
most.  During  the  long  years  of  their  independent 
existence,  they  have  created  a literature,  an  art,  and 
culture  of  their  own.  In  short,  they  constitute  a 
nation  in  every  ethnic,  historical  and  cultural  sense  of 
the  word.  And  to-day  the  whole  nation  is  united  in 
asserting  its  right  to  determine  its  own  destiny  accord- 
ing to  its  own  will  and  choice. 

Japan  advances  many  arguments  to  justify  her 
domination  of  Korea.  They  are  (1)  self-defense,  (2) 
necessity  for  colonization,  (3)  benevolent  motive  to 
aid  Korea.  But  none  of  these  stands  the  test  of  close 
investigation  and  international  justice. 

“An  independent  Korea,  liable  to  become  a possible 
strategic  foothold  for  a hostile,  powerful  foe,  would 
be  dangerous  for  Japan,”  argue  the  Japanese  states- 
men; therefore,  Japan  must  hold  Korea  for  self-de- 
fense. But  who  would  take  Korea  in  case  Japan  re- 
leases her?  The  danger  of  Russian  aggression  or 
Chinese  “ imperialism  ” is  out  of  the  question.  The 
only  nation  that  has  a direct  interest  in  that  part  of  the 
Orient,  outside  of  Russia  and  China,  is  the  United 
States.  Would  it  be  possible  for  the  United  States 
to  take  possession  of  Korea  by  force  of  arms,  as  soon 
as  Japan  releases  her,  for  the  purpose  of  imperial  ag- 
grandizement ? That  question  can  be  left  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  reader. 


PEEFACE 


13 


The  pretext  that  Japan  must  have  Korea  for  col- 
onization is  equally  flimsy.  Korea  is  already  densely 
populated,  and  the  Korean  farmer  cultivates  the  soil 
intensively.  Furthermore,  if  the  industry  and  capital 
now  applied  by  Japan  to  foreign  aggression  were  used 
instead  for  internal  development,  room  for  surplus 
population  could  be  found  within  Japan  proper.  Hok- 
kaido (northern  Japan)  and  the  southern  half  of  Sag- 
halien  Island,  though  no  further  north  than  the  states 
of  Oregon  and  Washington,  are  sparsely  settled.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Japan  Year  Book  for  1918-19,  a semi- 
official publication  edited  by  Japanese,  these  regions 
have  unexcelled  climate  and  soil  and  are  rich  in  fish- 
eries and  mineral  resources.  The  area  of  these  partly 
developed  districts  of  Japan  is  about  49,000  square 
miles.  This  is  over  four  times  the  size  of  Belgium, 
and  yet  Belgium  has  a population  of  seven  and  a half 
millions,  which  is  five  times  as  great  as  the  combined 
population  of  Hokkaido  and  the  southern  half  of 
Saghalien. 

The  three  hundred  thousand  Japanese,  who  are  in 
Korea,  came  there  as  exploiters,  not  as  immigrants. 
The  tens  of  thousands  of  acres  now  in  Japanese  pos- 
session were  the  best  watered  and  cultivated  lands 
when  taken  over  by  the  Government.  The  loudly 
advertised  claim  that  Japanese  settlers  in  Korea  are  re- 
claiming waste  regions  or  improving  uncultivated  soil 
is  nothing  more  than  a smoke  screen  to  cover  the  ille- 
gitimate methods  employed  by  the  Government  to 
deprive  the  Koreans  of  their  land.  Korea  has  proved 
a fertile  field  for  Japanese  grafters  and  land-grabbers, 


14 


PREFACE 


but  as  an  outlet  for  colonization  on  an  honest  basis,  it 
has  proved  of  no  value  to  the  Japanese  Empire.  The 
Japanese  are  no  pioneers;  they  do  not  have  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  adventure.  They  only  take  over,  by 
underhanded  methods,  what  other  people  have  accom- 
plished. As  a field  for  surplus  population,  without 
illegitimate  exploitation,  an  independent  Korea  would 
be  of  no  hindrance  to  Japan.  On  the  contrary,  it 
would  be  an  asset,  as  then  the  Japanese  immigrants 
would  be  welcomed  as  immigrants  and  not  hated  as 
exploiters. 

The  third  claim  that  Japan  holds  Korea  for  the 
humanitarian  purpose  of  aiding  the  Koreans  along  the 
path  of  modem  civilization  is  a nauseating  hypocrisy. 
Ever  since  Japan  went  into  Korea  she  has  been  practis- 
ing upon  the  Koreans  Turkish  cruelty,  with  German 
efficiency  and  Japanese  cunning.  Yet  she  claims  that 
she  loves  the  Koreans  as  her  own  people.  At  the  very 
moment  when  the  Japanese  statesmen  are  making  pub- 
lic statements  that  they  love  the  Koreans  as  their 
brethren,  villages  are  being  wiped  out,  innocent  men 
and  women  are  being  beaten  to  death  behind  prison 
bars.  The  promises  of  reform,  almost  before  they 
have  left  the  mouth  of  official  Tokyo,  are  being  washed 
away  in  blood. 

Why,  then,  does  Japan  want  to  hold  Korea?  It  is 
for  the  same  reason  that  Hideyoshi  invaded  Korea 
over  three  centuries  ago.  Hideyoshi’s  real  objective 
was  the  Asiatic  mainland.  Korea  is  the  bridge  be- 
tween China  and  Japan,  so  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Japanese  Shogun  to  conquer  Korea  first  before  march- 


PEEFACE 


15 


ing  his  armies  to  the  Middle  Kingdom.  So  it  is  to-day. 
The  ultimate  objective  of  Pan-Nipponism  is  to  con- 
solidate all  Asia  under  Japanese  domination,  after 
wtiich  will  come  the  settlement  of  the  mastery  of  the 
Pacific.  In  order  to  dominate  the  continent  of  Asia, 
it  is  necessary  for  Japan  strongly  to  entrench  herself 
in  Korea  so  that  she  may  use  that  territory  as  a base 
of  military  operations.  In  this  respect,  and  in  it  alone, 
the  holding  of  Korea  is  essential  to  Japan. 

Thus,  we  see  the  real  object  of  Japan  in  holding 
Korea  permits  no  argument.  To  the  conqueror, 
whether  he  be  an  exponent  of  Pan-Germanism  or  Pan- 
Nipponism,  justice  has  no  argument  and  humanity 
presents  no  appeal.  He  listens  to  but  one  reason — that 
of  strategy  and  cunning;  and  obeys  but  one  com- 
mand— that  of  force.  Hence,  the  Korean  question 
from  the  Japanese  point  of  view  has  no  argument  to 
present  and  no  appeal  to  make. 

There  are  some  American  and  European  disciples  of 
physical  force,  though  small  in  number,  who  still  be- 
lieve that  a nation  that  is  not  strong  enough  to  main- 
tain its  integrity  against  its  aggressive  neighbours  has 
no  right  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  independence. 
Therefore,  if  the  Koreans  are  not  in  a position  to  drive 
out  the  Japanese  from  their  land,  they  should  suffer 
the  thraldom  of  alien  domination.  This  is,  indeed,  a 
cynical  and  callous  sentiment  based  upon  the  worn-out 
idea  that  might  makes  right.  The  finer  promptings  of 
humanity  and  generous  impulses  of  good  faith  are 
given  no  voice  in  the  council  of  force.  To  those  who 
subscribe  to  this  doctrine — the  doctrine  of  might — the 


16 


PEEFACE 


only  plea  that  I,  as  a Korean,  have  to  make  is  the 
same  that  Daniel  Webster  made  in  his  address  to  the 
jury  in  the  case  of  Dartmouth  College  a century  ago: 
“ It  is  a poor  little  country,  but  there  are  those  who 
love  it.” 


Washington,  D.  C. 


H.  C. 


Contents 


Introduction 

Land  and  People  — Mountains — Climate — Agricultural 
Products — Mineral  Deposits — Ethnography — Opinions  of 
Keane,  Hulbert,  Gale — Population — Religious  Beliefs  ; 
History  and  Civilization — Antiquity  of  Korean  History — 
Civilization  of  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Korea — Opinions  of 
Brown,  Bishop,  Griffis ; Inauguration  of  Open  Door — 
Making  Treaties  with  Western  Powers — American  Busi- 
ness Enterprises  in  Korea. 

Diplomatic  Relations  Between  Korea  and 
Japan  

Traditional  Enmity  Between  Two  Nations — First 
Treaty  with  Japan,  1876 — Murder  of  the  Korean  Queen 
by  Japanese,  1895 — Guaranteeing  Korean  Independence 
at  the  Beginning  of  Russo-Japanese  War,  1904 — Forcing 
Protectorate  upon  Korea  After  the  War,  1905 — Final  An- 
nexation, 1910 — Willoughby’s  Comment — Situation  from 
International  Jurist’s  Point  of  View. 

Political  and  Judicial  Oppression 

Dictatorship  of  Governor-General — Removal  of  Koreans 
from  All  Official  Positions — Statement  of  an  American 
Resident  of  Korea — Country  Covered  with  Network  of 
Officialdom — Korea  and  India  Compared:  17,000  Offi- 
cials in  Korea,  1,200  in  India — No  Legal  Protection  to 
Koreans — Courts  Are  Tools  of  Governor-General — Ex- 
traordinary Power  of  Police — Enumeration  of  Deficien- 
cies in  Legal  Procedure — “Summary  Judgment” — Num- 
ber of  Convictions,  1913-17 — Opinion  of  Bishop  Herbert 

The  Official  “ Paddle”  . . . . 

Illegality  of  Flogging — Administered  to  Koreans  Only — 
Japanese  Excuse — Description  of  Flogging  as  Given  by 
Dr.  Frank  W.  Schofield — Its  Fatal  Effect  upon  the 
Victim— Number  Flogged,  1913-19 — Editorial  Comment 
of  Japan  Chronicle. 


17 


18 


CONTENTS 


V.  Prisons  and  Prison  Tortures 

Cruelty  of  Tortures  Unparalleled  in  History — Men  Pris- 
oners— Testimony  Given  Out  by  Headquarters  of  Presby- 
terian Church  in  New  York — Revolting  Treatment  of 
Women  Prisoners — Excerpts  from  Congressional  Record 
— Filth  and  Congestion — Prisons  Unheated  in  Winter — 
Letter  from  a Presbyterian  Missionary  in  Pyeng  Yang. 

VI.  Economic  Exploitation  .... 

Increase  in  National  Debt  and  Taxes — Graft  and  Cor- 
ruption in  Imperial  Government-owned  Public  Utilities — 
Travelled  Portion  of  Country  Made  a Show  Case  for  Tour- 
ists— Koreans  Forced  to  Build  Military  Roads  without 
Compensation — Confiscation  of  Lands — Forced  Exodus 
of  Koreans  into  Manchuria  and  Siberia — Irredeemable 
Currency — Business  Monopoly — Governmental  Control  of 
Household  Finances  of  Koreans — Testimony  of  an  Amer- 
ican Resident  in  Korea. 

VII.  Intellectual  Strangulation 

Policy  of  Japanese  Government  to  Keep  Koreans  as  Ig- 
norant as  Possible — Confiscation  and  Burning  of  Korean 
Historical  Books — No  Free  Press  or  Free  Speech — Two 
Years  Jail  Sentence  for  Writing  Sonnet  to  Liberty — Abo- 
lition of  Private  Schools — Japanizing  Curriculum  of  Public 
Schools — Schools  for  Korean  Children  Fewer  in  Number 
and  Inferior  in  Grade  Compared  with  Those  Provided  for 
Japanese  Children  in  Korea — Korean  Students  not  Per- 
mitted to  Go  Abroad  for  Education. 

VIII.  Imposition  of  Social  Evils 

Moral  Standards  of  Japan — Observations  of  Galen  W. 
Fisher,  Captain  Bechel,  Ernest  W.  Clement — Introduction 
of  Japanese  Prostitute  System  into  Korea — Comments  of 
Frank  W.  Schofield,  Arthur  Judson  Brown — Encouraging 
Use  of  Opium  and  Morphine  among  Koreans — Minor 
Social  Evils — Drinking,  Gambling,  etc. 

IX.  The  Persecution  of  the  Church 

Virility  of  the  Korean  Church — Japanese  Attempts  to 
Undermine  It  by  Peaceful  Methods — Open  Persecution — 
“ Conspiracy  Case  ” — Statement  of  Dr.  W.  W.  Pinson — 
“ Educational  Ordinances  ” Passed  to  Close  Mission 
Schools — Statement  of  Rev.  James  E.  Adams — Efforts  to 
Suppress  Korean  Nationality  Produce  Opposite  Efl'ect 
upon  Korean  Children — Christians  Singled  Out  for  Perse- 
cution during  Independence  Demonstrations — Excerpt 
from  Report  of  Presbyterian  Mission  Station  at  Pyeng 
Yang. 


CONTENTS 


19 


X.  Indignities  TO  Missionaries  , . . 173 

Policy  of  Japan  to  Exclude  Westerners  from  Korea — 
McKenzie’s  Observations  in  Korea — Attitude  of  Mission- 
aries— Neutral  Position  of  Missionaries  in  Regard  to  In- 
dependence Movement — Editorial  Attack  on  Missionaries 
by  Japanese  Papers — Bringing  Thugs  from  Japan  to  Ter- 
rorize Missionaries — Beating  American  Women  by  Jap- 
anese Soldiers — Searching  American  Homes  Without 
Warrant — Arrest  and  Sentence  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mowry — 
Assault  on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas — Editorial  Comment  of 
yapan  Chronicle. 

XI.  The  Movement  to  Restore  Independence  187 

Japan’s  Right  in  Korea  not  Recognized  by  Koreans — 

Status  of  Japan’s  Entering  Korea — Gradual  Shifting  of 
Position  from  Protectorate  to  Absorption — Stubborn  Re- 
sistance of  Koreans — McKenzie’s  Visit  to  Fighting  Dis- 
tricts— Fight  Still  Goes  On — Sentiment  of  Saner  Element 
of  People — Reaction  on  Japanization  Program — Effect 
of  Allies’  War  Aims — The  King’s  Death — Committees 
and  Personnel  of  Independence  Movement — The  Inde- 
pendence Proclamation. 

XII.  The  Movement  to  Restore  Independence 

{Contmued ) ......  204 

Comments  on  Independence  Proclamation — Historic 
Banquet — Movement  Nation-Wide — Unity  of  People — 
Official  Espionage — Demonstrations  Strictly  Passive — 
Petition  of  Viscounts  Kim  Yun-sik  and  Yi  Yong-chik — 
Organization  of  Provisional  Government — Dr.  Syngman 
Rhee — Korea  and  Czecho-Slovakia  Compared — Japan 
Bewildered.  » 

XIII.  Japan  Amuck 214 

The  Independence  News — Its  Advice  to  Demonstrators 
Not  to  Commit  Violence — Wholesale  Arrests — Soldiers 
and  Police  Running  Amuck — Japanese  Civilians  Aiding 
their  Officers  in  Reign  of  Terror — Men,  Women  and 
Children  Indiscriminately  Cut  Down — Observations  of 
Dr.  Edward  W.  Thwing,  Mrs.  Robertson  Scott,  Mr. 
William  R.  Giles — Japanese  Vernacular  Papers  Encour- 
aged Outraging — Statement  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  E.  Arm- 
strong. 

XIV.  Massacres 231 

Foreigners  Chronicled  Only  a Small  Percentage  of  Hor- 
rors Throughout' the  Country — Massacres  and  Destruction 
of  Villages  in  Country  Districts — Massacre  in  Northern 


20 


CONTENTS 


Korea — In  Southern  Korea — In  Central  Korea — Con- 
sular Investigation  of  Massacre  in  Suwan  District — 
Chai-amm-ni,  Su-chon,  Wha-su-ri — Opinion  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Albertus  Pieters  on  Korean  Massacres. 


XV.  “ Speaking. Officially  ” . . . 241 

Governmental  Control  of  News  Channels — Falsified  Of- 
ficial Reports — Comments  by  Walter  E.  Weyl  and 
William  Elliot  GriflBs — Garbled  Reports  in  Seoul  Press 
—Manipulation  of  Foreign  Visitors  in  Japan  and  Korea 
— Experience  of  Elsie  McCormick — Opinion  of  V.  S. 
McClatchy — Japan  Society — Atrocities  Denied  by  Jap- 
anese Embassy  and  Consulates  in  America — Issuing 
Official  Instructions  in  Korea  for  Circulation  in  Amer- 
ica and  Europe — Incidents  Connected  with  Visit  of 
Congressional  Party  in  the  Orient. 

XVI.  Japan’s  Alleged  Reforms  . . . 266 

Publicity  Aided  Korean  Cause — Indignation  in  Amer- 
ica over  Atrocities  in  Korea — Announcement  of  Re- 
forms— Disappxjintment  of  Friends  of  Korea  and  Japan 
in  Seeing  no  Real  Reforms — “ Summary  Judgment,” 

Prison  Tortures,  Suppression  of  Free  Press  and  Speech, 
Revolting  Treatment  of  Women,  and  Massacres  Still 
Continue — Promised  Local  Government  Serves  as  a 
Part  of  Official  Espionage — Reforms  in  Korea  Impos- 
sible Under  Same  System  and  Same  OfiBcials  Although 
Under  Different  Name — Reform  Announcement  Noth- 
ing More  Than  Camouflage — Bishop  Candler’s  Views — 

How  the  Korean  Looks  at  the  Reforms. 

XVII.  Korean  and  Japanese  Characters  Con- 
trasted   285 

Monotheism  in  Korea — Different  Views  of  What  Con- 
stitutes Power — Nitobe’s  Views — Japanese  Political 
Philosophy — Two  Articles  by  “ Spectator  ” — “ The 
Korean’s  Courage  ” — “ Japan’s  Problem.” 

XVIII.  Conclusion 301 

Korean  Independence  Movement  Stronger  Now  Than 
in  1919 — Findings  of  Nathaniel  Peffer,  Elsie  McCor- 
mick, Frazier  Hunt — Japan’s  Impossible  Position  in 
Korea — Attempt  to  Bribe  Korean  Leaders — Japan  Con- 
tinues Iron-hand  Policy  — Koreans  Determined  to 
Struggle  for  Freedom  to  Bitter  End — Korea’s  Hope  in 
Final  Settlement  of  Far  Eastern  Question. 


CONTENTS 


21 


Appendices 

I.  The  Trial  of  Viscount  Miura  for  the  Murder  of  the 

Korean  Queen  . . . . . .322 

II.  Treaties  and  Conventions  Relating  to  Korean  Inde- 

pendence . . . . . . .328 

(i?)  Full  Text  of  Korean-American  Treaty,  1882 
(3)  List  of  Identical  Treaties  with  Other  Powers 
(r)  Excerpts  from  Treaties  made  by  Japan  Rec- 
ognizing or  Asserting  Independence  of  Korea 

III.  Balance  Sheet  Between  Korea  and  Japan  . .340 

IV.  Increases  In  Korea’s  Debt  During  Japanese  Control  341 

V.  Excess  Taxes  Collected  During  Japanese  Control  of 

Korea  ........  342 

VI.  Petition  by  Viscounts  Kim  Yun-sik  and  Yi  Yong- 

chik  to  General  Hasegawa,  Japanese  Governor- 
General  of  Korea  . . . . . .343 

VII.  Atrocity  Statistics  ......  346 


Index  . 


. 359 


Illustrations 


Korea  and  Its  Position  in  the  Far  East  (Map) 

Frontispiece 
Facing  Page 

Bird’s  Eye  View  of  Seoul 

26 

Sur  Jai-pil  ..... 

42 

Kim  Oak-kyun  .... 

42 

Yi  Yong-chik  .... 

42 

Yun  Chi-ho  ..... 

42 

Yi  Sang-jai  ..... 

42 

The  Independence  Arch  Outside  Seoul 

62 

Granite  Statue  of  Buddha  at  Eun  Chin 

62 

Prince  Min  Yong  Whan 

76 

Son  Byung  Hi  ...  . 

76 

Korea’s  New  Womanhood 

98 

Post  Office  and  Bank,  Seoul  . 

108 

Central  Park,  Seoul 

108 

Main  Street,  Seoul 

108 

One  of  the  City  Gates,  Seoul 

108 

Pai  Jai  College,  Seoul 

132 

The  Korean  Christian  Institute,  Honolulu 

132 

A Typical  Korean  Church  and  Its 

Congregation 

156 

A Japanese  House  of  Ill-Fame  in  Seoul 

156 

Rev.  Ely  M.  Mowry  in  Prisoner’s  Garb  . 

23 

184 

24 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Lee  Dong  Whee  .......  198 

Ahn  Chang  Ho  .......  198 

The  Liberty  Bell  at  Chong-no,  Seoul  . . . 208 

A Facsimile  Reproduction  of  the  Independence  News  208 
Syngman  Rhee,  Ph.  D.  . . . . . .212 

Shopkeepers’  Strike  During  the  Independence  Dem- 


onstrations . . . . . . .216 

Japanese  Soldiers  Guarding  the  Streets  of  Seoul  . 216 

A Japanese  Officer  “ Explaining  ” to  an  American 

Missionary  the  Massacre  of  Chai-amm-ni  . 232 

Ruins  of  Chang-duri  ......  232 

Ruins  of  Su-chon  .......  238 

Remains  of  Wha-su-ri  After  Japanese  Soldiers  Had 

Paid  It  a Visit  ......  238 

Henry  Chung  .......  244 

Kiusic  Kimm  .......  244 

Soon  Hyun  ........  244 

Viscount  Kim  Yun-sik  ......  286 

The  Korean  Christian  Maid  .....  286 

A Group  of  Korean  Leaders  in  China  . . . 306 


Maps 

I.  Korea  and  Its  Position  in  the  Far  East  . Frontispiece 

II.  Protestant  Mission  Stations  in  Korea  . . 366 

III.  Centers  of  National  Movement  for  Independence  367 


I 


INTRODUCTION 

I.  The  Land  and  the  People 

Korea,  the  land  of  Morning  Calm,  is  a coun- 
try that  lies  between  China,  Japan  and  Rus- 
sian Siberia.  It  has  an  area  of  84,000 
square  miles,  not  including  the  “ Ten  Thousand 
Islands,”  that  cluster  thickly  along  its  western  and 
eastern  shores,  and  give  a total  area  of  nearly  90,000 
square  miles.  In  length  it  is  about  660  miles  with  an 
average  width  of  130  miles,  forming  a peninsula  that 
divides  the  Yellow  and  Japan  Seas. 

The  coastline  extends  about  1,940  miles,  greatly 
varying  in  its  configuration.  The  principal  harbours 
are  Wonsan  (Gensan)  on  the  northeast  coast,  Fusan 
and  Masanpo  at  the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula, 
and  Mokpo,  Chemulpo,  Chinnampo,  and  Yongampo  on 
the  west  coast. 

There  are  no  mighty  streams  in  Korea.  The  Yalu, 
the  longest  of  them,  flowing  from  the  Paik  Tu  San 
(White-head  Mountain)  into  the  Korea  Bay  in  the 
Yellow  Sea,  is  navigable  about  sixty  miles  from  the 
sea,  and  forms  part  of  the  boundary  between  Korea 
and  Manchuria.  In  former  years  it  has  been  crossed 
by  innumerable  armies  in  marches  and  counter- 
marches, and  this  fact  has  led  to  the  soubriquet — the 

25 


26 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Rubicon  of  the  Orient.  The  Tumen  River  rises  from 
the  same  mountain  and  following  a northeasterly 
course,  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  Peter  the  Great  in  the 
Japan  Sea.  These  two  rivers  separate  Korea  from 
northeastern  Manchuria  and  Siberia. 

A mountain  range  runs  the  entire  length  of  the 
peninsula  like  the  backbone  of  a fish,  and  abounds  in 
wild  game — tigers,  deer,  antelopes,  leopards,  wild 
boars,  bears  and  pheasants.  The  most  famous  of  the 
Korean  mountains  is  the  Paik  Tu  San  (White-head 
Mountain)  which  lies  on  the  boundary  line  of  Korea 
and  Manchuria.  The  highest  peak  of  the  Paik  Tu 
San  is  about  nine  thousand  feet  above  sea  level  and  is 
an  extinct  volcano.  In  its  crater  lies  a beautiful  lake, 
the  Dragon  Prince’s  Pool,  and  on  its  sides  grow 
primeval  forests.  The  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the 
Paik  Tu  San  have  been  sung  not  only  by  the  Koreans 
and  the  Chinese,  but  also  in  the  literature  of  Japan. 

The  Diamond  Mountains,  mother  of  the  River  Han, 
in  Kang  Wun  Province,  compare  favourably  with  the 
Yosemite  Valley  of  California.  Of  the  cliffs  and  can- 
yons from  the  monastery  of  Chang  An  Sa,  Mrs.  Isa- 
bella Bird  Bishop  says : “ Surely  the  beauty  of  that 
eleven  miles  is  not  much  exceeded  anywhere  on  earth.” 
A more  recent  visitor  describes  the  scenery  as  worth 
travelling  around  the  earth  to  behold.  These  moun- 
tains are  full  of  monasteries,  centuries  old,  adorned 
with  relics  of  ancient  art.  It  was  to  the  Diamond 
Mountains,  according  to  native  traditions,  that  Bud- 
dhism first  came  direct  from  India,  and  where  fifty- 
three  Buddhists  landed  with  a shipload  of  scriptures 


niRD'S-KYE  VIEW  OF  PICTURESQUE  SEOUL 


t* . 


■> 


1 


, t 


.^»i 


j'  ^ i’  If ' 


•If',  a/’ 


» r 


»• , s 


' K 

4-^9.% 

% ' . ■*  *>.^  * 

*V  *•. 

<•.  !»»' 


'a. 


..  . f 


0'» 


.lg«' 

-^  ■ ' 

' •« , 


'm  . 

■"■'•Ms  ■ ^ 


^ m.i*  'i  Vi; 


*'■.  -.^  -^.-A  '.A 


V 


a ^ 


- « 


ifUM  *Xi  "%• 


V*  vry  »i 


f^-;  . i--f 


•V.  .»♦ 


i 


^ H . a<  7 'r* ',»^r-« '-.  •^■i^*' 


* I'  '■'^‘|^*-P-  ^■ 

- ^ ^ • 


..  > 


.^;i  s^ 


# - 


4' Y\  Jr 


mTEODUCTION 


27 


on  the  east  coast  and  built  the  first  Buddhist  temple, 
Yu  Chum  Sa. 

Of  the  climate  in  Korea,  an  American  who  has  lived 
in  nine  states  says  that  he  is  “ of  the  opinion  that  the 
most  delightful  all-the-year-round  climate  to  be  found 
anywhere  is  in  this  peninsula-kingdom.”  Winters  are 
dry,  clear  and  crisp,  although  the  summers  are  hot  and 
rainy.  Lying  between  the  thirty-fourth  and  forty- 
third  parallels  of  north  latitude,  the  climate  is  that  of 
the  north  temperate  zone,  resembling  that  of  Ne- 
braska and  Kansas.  The  sea  surrounding  the  three 
sides  of  the  Korean  peninsula  tends  to  stabilize  the 
climate;  hence  the  winters  are  not  severely  cold  nor 
the  summers  oppressively  hot.  The  average  rainfall  is 
about  thirty-six  inches  a year,  affording  the  exuberant 
growth  of  vegetation  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  mak- 
ing intensive  agriculture  highly  profitable.  Millet, 
beans,  peas,  rice,  potatoes,  Indian  corn,  wheat,  barley, 
buckwheat,  rye,  cotton,  silk,  tobacco,  sorghum  and  a 
variety  of  garden  truck  have  been  successfully  grown 
for  centuries.  Korea  has  always  produced  more  grain 
than  her  people  could  consume,  and  in  the  past  has  had 
the  least  number  of  famines  of  any  country  in  the 
East. 

The  country  is  not  less  rich  in  its  mineral  resources. 
Gold,  silver,  tungsten,  graphite,  copper,  iron,  coal  and 
chalk  have  been  found  in  Korea,  some  of  them  in 
abundant  deposits.  The  Unsan  mine  alone,  a gold 
mine  controlled  by  an  American  firm,  produced  within 
a dozen  years  after  the  concession  was  granted  in  1896, 
1,637,591  tons  of  ore,  valued  at  $10,701,157. 


28 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


The  origin  and  classification  of  the  Korean  race  is 
more  or  less  a baffling  problem  to  the  ethnologists  of 
the  world.  The  Korean  scholars  themselves  are  un- 
certain as  to  the  origin  of  their  ancestors.  Racial 
characteristics  of  the  Malays,  the  Mongols  and  the 
Caucasians  are  found  among  the  people  of  Korea. 
It  will  be  of  interest  to  note  the  opinion  of  the  various 
Western  observers  on  this  point.  Prof.  A.  H.  Keane, 
a distinguished  ethnologist  of  Great  Britain,  main- 
tains that  the  Korean  people  were  originally  of  Cau- 
casian stock  intermingled  with  the  Mongolian  race. 
In  his  discussion  of  the  racial  stock  of  the  Asiatic 
peoples  the  great  English  authority  on  races  states: 

In  the  adjacent  Korean  Peninsula  the  Caucasian  ele- 
ment is  even  more  marked  than  among  the  Tunguses. 
European  features — light  eyes,  large  nose,  hair  often 
brown,  full  beard,  fair  and  even  white  skin,  tall  stature — 
are  conspicuous  especially  amongst  the  upper  classes  and 
in  the  south.  The  presence  of  Neolithic  Caucasians  from 
the  Far  West  is,  also,  attested  by  their  works,  megalithic 
structures,  which  look  like  duplicates  of  the  European 
dolmens  and  cromlechs.  The  Koreans  take  their  present 
name  from  the  Koryo  dynasty  (918-1392  a.  d.),  which 
marks  the  most  flourishing  epoch  in  the  national  records. 
For  about  five  hundred  years  they  were  the  dominant 
people  in  northeast  Asia;  trade  and  the  industrial  arts 
were  highly  developed,  and  it  was  in  Korea  that  the 
Japanese  first  acquired  that  skill  in  porcelain  and  bronze 
work  which  they  afterwards  brought  to  such  great  per- 
fection.* 

‘Cf.  A.  H.  Keane,  The  World’s  Peoples,  p.  163;  idem, 
Ethnology,  p.  314. 


INTEODUCTION 


29 


Professor  Homer  B.  Hulbert,  formerly  an  Ameri- 
can educationalist,  after  his  stay  of  over  twenty  years 
in  Korea,  says  concerning  the  people: 

They  are  overshadowed  by  China  on  the  one  hand  in 
respect  of  numbers,  and  by  Japan  on  the  other  in  respect 
of  wit.  They  are  neither  good  merchants  like  the  one 
nor  good  fighters  like  the  other,  and  yet  they  are  far 
more  like  Anglo-Saxons  in  temperament  than  either,  and 
they  are  by  far  the  pleasantest  people  in  the  Far  East  to 
live  amongst.' 

It  is  fairly  certain  that  the  aborigines  of  Korea  in- 
termingled with  other  Asiatic  races — the  Manchus,  the 
Mongols,  the  inhabitants  of  China  proper,  and  the 
Aryan  race  of  Hindustan.  They  had  formed  the 
racial  consciousness  and  national  solidarity  of  Korea 
long  before  the  birth  of  the  modern  nations  in  Europe. 

This  discussion  of  Korean  ethnography  will  not  be 
complete  without  a word  about  the  racial  distinction 
between  the  Koreans  and  the  Japanese.  This  is  espe- 
cially important  because  the  Japanese  are  now  invent- 
ing ethnological  facts  and  are  creating  historical  data 
to  prove  to  the  Koreans  that  Japan  was  their  mother 
country,  as  England  was  to  America,  and  that  every- 
thing in  Korean  civilization  originally  came  from  Ja- 
pan. Here  I can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  pen  of  Dr.  James  S.  Gale,  one  of  the 
greatest  Western  scholars  on  Korean  history. 

Korea  remained  a single  undivided  kingdom  from 
669  A.  D.  till  August,  1910,  twelve  hundred  and  forty-one 

‘Homer  B.  Hulbert,  The  Passing  of  Korea,  Preface. 


30 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


years.  Only  twice  in  all  that  time  did  her  ruling  House 
change,  once  in  918,  and  again  in  1392,  and  never  did 
she  have  any  internal  wars  as  great  as  those  of  the  Roses 
of  England.  Scholars  and  writers  lived  and  flourished, 
an  army  of  them,  when  our  fathers  had  only  Chaucer. 
In  1600  an  assembly  of  as  brilliant  literati  as  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  gathered  in  Seoul,  unconscious  that  on  the 
other  side  of  this  little  planet  Shakespeare  was  writing 
Hamlet. 

The  works  of  one  great  scholar  crossed  the  path  of  the 
writer  recently,  and  he  offered  twenty-two  yen  ($11.00) 
for  it,  but  a Japanese  bought  it  over  his  head  for  forty- 
four.  The  Japanese  fairly  worship  the  literature  of  this 
little  kingdom  and  long  that  they  may  write  such  lines  as 
these. 

Great  in  letters,  great  also  was  she  in  porcelain,  in 
paper,  in  printing,  in  brass  and  iron  work — a highly 
gifted  people,  untouched  by  the  outer  world.  True,  she 
was  nominally  under  the  suzerainty  of  China,  but  that 
was  only  a gentleman’s  agreement  between  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Houses.  The  Chinese  never  thought  of  inter- 
fering with  Korea’s  internal  affairs  for  all  these  fourteen 
hundred  years. 

In  1910  Korea’s  independence  was  lost,  not  by  con- 
quest, but  by  half  a dozen  officials  handing  over  the  State 
to  Japan.  They  were  liberally  pensioned  off  and  to-day 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labours  while  the  awakened 
people  behold  their  land  in  bondage.  . . . 

Korea  and  Japan  find  it  impossible  to  live  together  in 
harmony,  so  different  are  they.  The  Japanese  are  wor- 
shippers of  the  Emperor  and  count  him  semi-divine.  The 
Koreans  laugh  at  the  idea.  . . . The  Koreans,  even 

the  lowest  classes,  are  all  more  or  less  gentlemen  imbued 
with  the  saving  truths  of  Confucianism,  while  the  lower 
class  Japanese  are  closely  allied  to  the  naked  South  Sea 
Islanders.  . . . 


INTEODUCTION 


31 


The  Korean  is  a man  of  the  pen  while  Japan  is  a nation 
of  warriors.  Military  officials  in  Korea  have  always 
been  rated  second  class,  while  Japan  is  ruled  by  the 
sword,  and  admires  beyond  measure  the  Hohenzollern 
with  his  clicking  spurs. 

The  prominence  of  the  prostitute  in  Japan  is  shocking 
to  Korea.  When  a candidate  for  Parliament  can  issue 
a manifesto  as  proof  of  his  worth  and  fitness  for  office, 
stating  that  he  is  backed  up  by  the  lawyers  of  the  town, 
by  the  rice  merchants,  and  by  the  head  of  the  prostitutes* 
guilds,  without  giving  any  offense  or  calling  forth  any 
remarks,  we  can  judge  of  the  peculiar  view  Japan  has  as 
to  the  “ strange  women.”  Korea’s  view  of  her  is  just 
what  the  American  view  is,  or  should  be.  From  these 
illustrations  it  will  be  seen  how  difficult  it  is  for  Korea 
and  Japan  to  walk  together.* 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  racial  and  cultural  distinc- 
tion between  Korea  and  Japan  is,  and  always  has  been, 
greater  than  that  between  France  and  Germany.  And 
in  so  far  as  I am  able  to  judge,  this  distinction  will 
remain  despite  the  desperate  effort  of  the  Nipponese  to 
Japanize  the  Hermit  Kingdom.  Korea  will  remain 
Korea  and,  like  the  Frenchman’s  chameleon,  the  more 
it  changes  the  more  it  becomes  the  same. 

The  population,  as  given  out  by  Japan,  on  December 
31,  1918,  was  17,412,871,  which  included  foreigners 
19,956,  classified  as  follows:  Chinese  18,972,  Ameri- 
cans 597,  British  223,  French  107,  Germans  57.  It 
will  be  noted  that  no  data  are  given  as  to  the  number 
of  Japanese,  but  the  census  of  1915  gave  the  number 

’James  S.  Gale,  “The  Missionary  Outlook  in  Korea,”  The 
Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  February,  1920,  pp.  1 17-122. 


32 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


of  Japanese  as  303,659.  Both  the  census  of  1915  and 
of  1918  were  published  by  Japan  for  the  world’s  bene- 
fit, with  the  number  of  Koreans  purposely  misstated. 
Japanese  military  records,  which  approach  German 
precision  and  methods,  give  the  total  number  of  Ko- 
reans as  18,383,446.  If  we  add  to  this  figure  the  mil- 
lion and  a half  or  more  Koreans  living  in  Siberia  and 
Manchuria,  we  have  a grand  total  of  20,000,000  people 
who  are  citizens  of  Korea. 

The  Christianity  of  Korea  is  predominantly  Protes- 
tant. Just  before  Japan  began  its  policy  of  destroying 
the  churches  and  schools,  there  were  3,164  Christian 
churches,  with  6,690  ministers.  The  Buddhists  had 
258  places  of  worship  with  313  priests,  and  the  Japa- 
nese maintained  sixty-five  Shinto  places  in  which  to 
worship  the  picture  of  the  Mikado.  The  Christian 
missionary  field  in  Korea  is  highly  developed,  and  is 
more  or  less  self-supporting,  reaching  out  into  activi- 
ties that  are  carried  on  by  the  citizen  adherents.  The 
Presbyterians  have  twenty-one  Mission  centers  all  told 
with  full  complements  of  churches,  schools,  hospitals, 
etc.  The  Methodists  have  eight  and  the  Catholics 
have  from  twenty  to  thirty.  The  Chuntokyo  or 
“ Heaven  Worshippers  ” have  a numerical  strength 
about  equal  to  that  of  the  Buddhists,  though  they  are 
not  mentioned  in  Japanese  statistics. 

II.  History  and  Civilization 

The  history  of  Korea  dates  back  to  the  founding  of 
Korea  by  Tan-Koon,  2333  b.  c.,  in  the  basin  of  Sun- 
gari River,  which  is  now  known  as  Southern  Man- 


INTEODUCTION 


33 


churia.  The  founding  of  the  Fuyu  Kingdom  by  this 
king  of  Korea  is  recognized  by  Du  Halde,  the  French 
geographer  and  historian  on  the  authority  of  ancient 
manuscripts  which  he  translated,  and  the  coming  of 
the  King  Kija  from  China  in  1122  b.  c.  is  recognized 
in  all  written  history.  To  this  day  the  inhabitants  of 
Pyeng  Yang  preserve  the  tomb  of  this  Chinese  sage, 
who  gave  them  law  and  civilization,  as  a sacred  shrine, 
and  pilgrims  pay  annual  visits  to  this  Mecca  of  Korea. 

The  history  of  Korea  is  not  a peaceful  one;  there 
have  been  invasions  and  counter-invasions  from  China 
and  Japan,  such  as  the  invasion  of  Korea  by  Gengis- 
Khan  in  1218,  and  the  Japanese  invasion  under 
Hideyoshi  in  1592.  But  sooner  or  later  Korea  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  out  foreign  invaders  and  maintained 
the  country  free  and  independent. 

The  Yi  dynasty,  which  ended  August  29,  1910,  was 
founded  by  Yi  Taijo  in  1392,  He  was  the  command- 
ing officer  of  the  Korean  army  sent  out  to  invade 
China.  But  the  ambitious  general  turned  his  forces 
against  his  ruler,  thereby  usurping  the  Korean  throne. 
He  promptly  formed  an  alliance  with  China  securing 
the  friendship  and  support  of  the  Chinese  Emperor, 
From  then  on  Korea  maintained  these  relations  with 
her  more  powerful  neighbour.  But  she  made  treaties 
with  other  nations  and  administered  her  own  laws  in- 
dependent of  China. 

Korea  made  her  first  treaty  with  Japan  in  1876,  the 
first  article  of  which  reads:  “Chosen,  being  an  in- 
dependent state,  enjoys  the  same  sovereign  rights  as 
does  Japan.”  The  Korean- American  treaty  was  made 


34 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


in  1882;  the  treaty  between  Korea  and  Great  Britain 
was  made  in  1883;  one  with  Germany  in  the  same 
year;  with  Italy  and  Russia  in  1884;  with  France  in 
1886;  with  China  in  1895,  in  which  China  definitely 
recognized  the  independence  of  Korea,  as  had  all  other 
countries  up  to  that  time;  with  Belgium  in  1901,  and 
with  Denmark  in  1902.  In  the  meantime  on  Novem- 
ber 12,  1897,  the  King  of  Korea  was  raised  to  the 
title  of  Emperor  and  was  so  recognized  by  all  the 
Powers. 

In  1882  the  King  of  Korea  wrote  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  saying: 

Now  as  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and 
Korea  are  about  to  enter  into  treaty  relations,  the  inter- 
course between  the  two  nations  shall  be  carried  on  in 
every  respect  on  terms  of  equality  and  courtesy,  and  the 
King  of  Korea  clearly  assents  that  all  of  the  articles 
shall  be  acknowledged  and  carried  into  effect  according 
to  the  laws  of  independent  states. 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  Korea  had  always  maintained 
her  independence  and  national  entity  during  the  forty 
centuries  of  her  history  until  a protectorate  was  forced 
upon  her  by  Japan  in  1905. 

During  the  dynasty  of  Tan-Koon  Korea  seems  to 
have  developed  a degree  of  civilization  rarely  found 
among  primitive  people,  such  as  the  art  of  writing, 
cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  domestication  of  ani- 
mals. This  civilization  was  materially  advanced  by 
that  which  the  Chinese  brought  over  by  Kija,  1122 
B.  c.  This  Chinese  noble  introduced  a new  written 


INTEODUCTION 


36 


language — Chinese  ideograjihs,  established  a stable 
government,  enacted  wise  laws,  and  also  stabilized  a 
civilization  that  was  even  higher  than  that  which  at 
that  time  prevailed  in  China. 

During  the  period  of  the  Sila  dynasty,  the  people 
imbibed  much  of  the  Hindu  civilization  through  Bud- 
dhism, which  was  then  the  prevailing  religion  of  the 
peninsula.  They  cultivated  the  arts ; built  walls 
around  their  cities;  fortified  strategic  points;  used 
horses,  oxen  and  wagons;  made  silk;  smelted  ore; 
manufactured  iron;  and  traded  with  other  kingdoms. 
Koradadbeh,  an  Arab  geographer  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, describes  the  Koreans  as  familiar  with  manu- 
facture of  nails,  and  states  that  they  rode  on  saddles, 
wore  silk,  and  were  skilled  in  the  making  of  porcelain. 
According  to  another  Western  authority: 

Japanese  records  show  that  the  Japanese  themselves 
first  learned  from  Koreans  the  cultivation  of  the  silk- 
worm, the  weaving  of  cloth,  architecture,  the  printing  of 
books,  the  painting  of  pictures,  the  beautifying  of  gar- 
dens, the  making  of  leather  harness,  and  the  shaping  of 
more  effective  weapons.  . . . Whereas  the  Chinese 

invented  the  art  of  printing  from  movable  wooden  blocks, 
the  Koreans  invented  metal  type  in  1403.  They  used  a 
phonetic  alphabet  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. They  saw  the  significance  of  the  mariner’s  compass 
in  1525.  They  devised,  in  1550,  an  astronomical  instru- 
ment which  they  very  properly  called  “ a heavenly 
measurer.”  Money  was  used  as  a medium  of  exchange 
in  Korea  long  before  it  was  employed  in  Northern 
Europe.  They  used  cannon  and  explosive  shells  when 
the  Japanese  invaded  in  1592.  The  first  iron-clad  war- 
ship in  the  world  was  invented  by  a Korean,  Admiral 


36 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Yi-Sun-Sin,  in  the  sixteenth  century  He  called  it  the 
Tortoise  Boat,  and  he  commanded  it  with  such  effective- 
ness against  the  Japanese  that  it  was  largely  instrumental 
in  defeating  the  fleet  of  Hideyoshi.  . . . 

While  the  Japanese  proved  themselves  to  be  stronger 
in  war,  they  were  deeply  influenced  by  the  Koreans  in 
religion  and  the  arts  of  peace.  Korea  gave  Buddhism  to 
Japan  in  552  a.  D.  . . . Many  people  praise  the 

Japanese  for  their  exquisite  Satsuma  ware  without  know- 
ing that  the  Koreans  long  ago  taught  the  Japanese  tlie 
art  of  its  manufacture.* 

From  time  immemorial  cooperative  associations  for 
business  enterprise  and  insurance  companies  for  mu- 
tual protection  in  the  form  of  various  guilds  were 
known  in  Korea.  A paragraph  from  the  pen  of  Mrs. 
Isabella  Bird  Bishop  on  the  Korean  Kyei  (guild)  is 
illuminating: 

The  faculty  of  combination,  by  which,  in  Korea  as  in 
China,  the  weak  find  some  measure  of  protection  against 
the  strong,  is  being  turned  to  useful  account.  This  Kyei, 
or  principle  of  association,  which  represents  one  of  the 
most  noteworthy  features  of  Korea,  develops  into  in- 
surance companies,  mutual  benefit  associations,  money- 
lending  syndicates,  tontines,  marriage  and  burial  clubs, 
great  trading  guilds  and  many  others. 

With  its  innumerable  associations,  only  a few  of  which 
I have  alluded  to,  Korean  life  is  singularly  complete,  and 
the  Korean  business  world  is  far  more  fully  organized 
than  ours,  nearly  all  the  traders  in  the  country  being 
members  of  guilds,  powerfully  bound  together,  and  hav- 
ing the  common  feature  of  mutual  helpfulness  in  time  of 
need.  This  habit  of  united  action,  and  the  measure  of 
honesty  which  is  essential  to  the  success  of  combined 
A.  J.  Brown,  The  Mastery  of  the  Pacific,  pp.  53-54. 


INTEODUCTION 


37 


undertakings,  supply  the  framework  on  which  various 
joint-stock  companies  are  being  erected,  among  which 
one  of  the  most  important  is  a tannery/ 

William  Elliot  Griffis,  a profound  American  scholar 
on  Oriental  history  and  civilization,  writes  as  follows 
on  the  educational  system  of  Korea: 

She  fosters  education  by  making  scholastic  ability,  as 
tested  in  the  literary  examination,  the  basis  of  appoint- 
ment to  office.  This  “ Civil  Service  Reform  ” was  estab- 
lished in  Chosen  by  the  now  ruling  dynasty  early  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  Education  in  Korea  is  public,  and 
encouraged  by  the  government  in  this  sense,  that  it  is 
made  the  road  to  government  employ  and  official  promo- 
tion. By  instituting  literary  examinations  for  the  civil 
and  military  service,  and  nominally  opening  them  to  all 
competitors,  and  filling  all  vacancies  with  the  successful 
candidates,  there  is  created  and  maintained  a constant 
stimulus  to  culture.* 

Indeed,  the  Korean  civilization  which  the  Western- 
ers found  when  Korea  was  first  opened  to  Western 
intercourse  was  decidedly  lower  than  what  it  had 
been.  This,  of  course,  does  not  mean  that  Korea  was 
decadent.  The  history  of  Italy,  Greece  and  Egypt 
shows  that  the  civilization  of  a people  has  its  ebb  and 
flow.  The  potential  genius  of  the  present-day  Korean 
is  azvakening  under  the  guiding  influence  of  Western 
culture  and  Christian  democracy.  That  is  the  spirit 
of  the  new  Korea. 

* Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  Korea  and  Her  Neighbors,  pp.  440-441. 

’ William  Elliot  Griffis,  Corea,  the  Hermit  Nation,  p.  339. 


38 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


III.  Inauguration  of  the  “ Open  Door  ” 

Korea  opened  its  doors  to  the  outside  world  with 
the  treaty  that  it  made  with  the  United  States  in  1882. 
Prior  to  that  time  it  had  been  known  as  the  “ Hermit 
Kingdom,”  and  the  policy  of  the  nation  had  been  to 
isolate  itself  from  all  outside  intercourse;  its  states- 
men believing  that  such  contact  led  to  strife  and  war. 
The  “ Open  Door  ” treaty  with  the  United  States  of 
1882  was  followed  by  similar  Treaties  with  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  Italy,  China,  Bel- 
gium and  Denmark.  The  diplomatic  relations  thus 
inaugurated  continued  for  twenty-three  years,  until 
1905,  and  would  still  be  in  existence  but  for  Japanese 
ambition  to  dominate  Asia  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
Powers. 

Each  of  the  Treaties  contained  the  clause  that: 

If  other  Powers  deal  unjustly  or  oppressively  with 
either  Government,  the  other  will  exert  their  good  offices, 
on  being  informed  of  the  case,  to  bring  about  an  amicable 
arrangement,  thus  showing  their  friendly  feelings. 

No  one  has  ever  had  the  hardihood,  not  even  the  Japa- 
nese, to  contend  that  Korea  ever  violated  any  of  these 
Treaties  in  the  smallest  detail.  She  kept  her  cove- 
nants and  would  still  be  fulfilling  her  international 
obligations  to  the  world  but  for  Japan;  and,  outside 
of  Japan,  it  must  be  said  that  up  to  1905  when  Japan 
took  its  bold  stand  as  to  Korea,  the  other  Powers,  in 
many  instances,  actively  and  conscientiously  fulfilled 
their  obligations  tow'ards  Korea. 

In  1895  at  the  making  of  the  Shimonoseki  Treaty 


INTRODUCTION 


39 


between  Japan  and  China,  the  United  States,  accord- 
ing to  the  late  Secretary  of  State  John  W.  Foster, 
intervened  to  insure  the  writing  into  that  Treaty  of  a 
clause  that  provided  for  the  explicit  recognition  by 
both  Japan  and  China  of  the  independence  and  terri- 
torial integrity  of  Korea.  Prior  to  that  time  Acting 
Secretary  of  State,  A.  A.  Adee,  had  made  a ruling 
denying  the  suzerainty  of  China.  In  1898  Russia 
actively  opposed  Japanese  aggression  in  Korea  and  in 
the  Treaty  between  Russia  and  Japan,  April  25,  1898, 
again  forced  Japan  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  Korea. 

However,  in  1905  all  this  active  and  aggressive  as- 
sistance from  the  other  Powers  with  which  Korea  had 
treaty  relations  ceased.  But  Korea  is  fair  enough  to 
assume  that  the  other  Powers  have  been  misled  by  the 
intrigue  and  deceptive  methods  of  Japan,  and  that 
when  “ the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth  ” stands  out  before  the  world,  the  other  Powers 
will  fulfill  their  covenants  as  fully  and  freely  as  they 
did  prior  to  1905. 

The  foregoing  is  the  political  side  of  the  “ Inaugu- 
ration of  the  Open  Door  ” in  Korea.  There  is  also  a 
practical,  commercial  side.  America,  the  first  western  - 
nation  with  which  treaty  relations  were  made,  naturally 
had  the  lead  and  maintained  precedence  in  the  com- 
mercial development  of  Korea.  Americans  built  the 
first  railroad,  the  first  electric  light  plant,  first  electric 
railway  and  the  first  water  works;  installed  the  first 
modern  arsenal  and  powder  plant,  built  Korea’s  first 
steamboats  of  any  size,  and  furnished  her  mines  with 


40 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


the  first  modern  machinery.  America  by  no  means  had 
exclusive  concessions,  though  it  may  have  held  the 
lead;  Great  Britain,  France  and  other  Powers  took  a 
part  in  this  development. 

There  are  1,066  miles  of  standard  gauge  railroads, 
consisting  of  a main  line  running  diagonally  the  length 
of  Korea  from  Fusan,  on  the  southeast,  to  Wiji,  on 
the  northwest,  via  the  capital  city,  Seoul,  and  the  next 
largest  city,  Pyeng  Yang,  with  branch  lines  to 
the  port  cities  of  Chinnampo,  Chemulpo,  Kunsan, 
Mokpo,  Masanpo  and  Wonsan. 

There  is  also  a narrow  gauge  railroad,  eighty  miles 
long,  from  the  east  coast  city  of  Chun-chin,  to  Hoi- 
ryung  in  the  northeast  of  Korea,  and  electric  street 
railways  are  in  operation  in  Seoul,  the  capital,  and 
Pyeng  Yang.  In  1898  Korea  was  formally  admitted 
into  the  International  Postal  Union,  and  throughout 
the  country  there  has  been  maintained  an  efficient  pos- 
tal, telephone  and  telegraph  service. 

Of  course,  these  things  are  all  now  dominated  and 
controlled  by  Japanese;  nevertheless  they  are  there,  a 
nucleus  for  a still  greater  and  more  liberal  develop- 
ment when  Korea  is  restored  to  her  rightful  interna- 
tional status. 


II 


DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS  BETWEEN 
KOREA  AND  JAPAN 

Korea  and  japan  have  been  traditional  ene- 
mies from  time  immemorial.  “ There  has 
never  been  a time  in  history,  from  600  b.  c to 
the  present  time,  when  Japan  has  not  exhibited  a hos- 
tile and  aggressive  spirit  towards  the  Korean  people 
and  government,”  says  Homer  B.  Hulbert,  the  author 
of  Korean  History  and  the  Passing  of  Korea. 

For  2,000  years  it  was  a series  of  robber  raids  and  at- 
tempted extortions  on  the  part  of  Japan,  until  in  1390 
A.  D.  a Korean  general  succeeded  in  inflicting  such  pun- 
ishment upon  the  corsairs  that  they  ceased  for  a time 
their  raids.  • But  in  1592  the  Japanese  invaded  the  coun- 
try with  an  immense  army,  and  it  was  only  after  seven 
years  of  sanguinary  strife  that  the  combined  Korean  and 
Chinese  armies  finally  expelled  the  invaders.  It  is  said 
that  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  Korean  population  perished 
in  this  conflict.  It  put  a stop  to  Japanese  aggression  for 
300  years.* 

At  the  time  of  Hideyoshi’s  invasion,  1592,  Korea 
had  a standing  army  of  50,000.  Nearly  3,000,000 
people,  men,  women  and  children,  were  killed  by  Japa- 

‘From  a report,  printed  in  the  Congressional  Record,  August 
18,  1919. 


41 


42 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


nese,  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  perished  were  non- 
combatants.*  The  Japanese  army  literally  “ scooped 
the  countr)’’,”  as  one  historian  puts  it,  carrying  away 
whatever  they  could,  and  destroying  what  they  could 
not  take  with  them.  Priceless  treasures  of  Korean  art 
and  porcelain  were  destroyed  by  the  invading  hordes, 
and  since  then  the  Korean  art  never  regained  its  an- 
cient glory.  Even  to-day  a traveller  in  Japan  can  see 
in  a street  of  Kyoto,  the  old  capital  of  Japan,  the  fa- 
mous, or  rather  infamous,  “ Ear  and  Nose  Monu- 
ment,” beneath  which  are  buried  the  severed  ears  and 
noses  of  several  thousand  Koreans  as  a grim  evidence 
of  Japanese  methods  of  waging  war  upon  Koreans 
over  three  centuries  ago. 

The  Koreans  have  hated  the  Japanese  ever  since  this 
struggle.  After  the  “ Restoration  ” in  Japan,  a letter 
was  sent  to  the  Koreans  notifying  them  of  the  fact  and 
asking  for  commercial  intercourse.  The  Koreans  sent 
a contemptuous  reply.  This  aggravated  the  situation, 
and  in  1875  armed  conflicts  between  two  countries 
occurred,  but  war  was  not  formally  declared.  In  the 
following  year,  February  26,  1876,  the  Koreans  were 
compelled  to  sign  a treaty  with  Japan,  the  provisions 
of  which  were,  to  quote  an  eminent  authority,  “ in 
almost  every  detail  precisely  similar  to  those  in  the 
treaties  which  Japan  had  herself,  when  ignorant  of 
international  law  and  custom,  originally  concluded 
with  Western  Powers,  and  which  she  afterwards  so 
bitterly  resented  as  a stain  on  her  national  dignity. 

’ Cf.  Korean  History  prepared  by  Korean  Historical  Commis- 
sion, published  in  Shanghai,  China,  1919,  pp.  187-188. 


SuR  Jai-pil.  Kim  Oak-kyun. 


Yi  Yonc.-chik.  Yvn  Chi-ho.  Yi  Sang-jai. 

A GROUP  OF  EARLY  REFORMERS  SOME  OF  WHOM  ARE  STILL 
ACTIVE  IN'  THE  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT 


RELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOREA  AND  JAPAN  43 


As  the  Western  Powers  had  done  with  herself,  so  did 
she  now,  without  one  particle  of  compunction,  induce 
Korea  to  sign  away  her  sovereign  rights  of  executive 
and  tariff  autonomy,  and  to  confer  on  Japanese  resi- 
dents within  her  borders  all  the  extra-territorial  privi- 
leges which  were  held  to  violate  equity  and  justice 
when  exercised  by  Europeans  in  Japan.”  ' 

VV^ith  the  signing  of  this  treaty,  Japan  laid  her  plans 
for  the  final  absorption  of  Korea.  But  she  saw  that 
China  was  in  the  way.  Korea  had  been  the  buffer 
state  between  China  and  Japan  for  centuries,  and  the 
domination  of  Korea  by  Japan  would  mean  tearing 
down  the  wall  that  kept  the  Japanese  out  of  China. 
In  order  to  control  Korea  China  must  be  compelled  to 
stay  neutral.  With  characteristic  celerity,  Japan  made 
preparations  for  what  she  deemed  to  be  inevitable  con- 
flict with  China.  When  she  felt  that  she  was  suffi- 
ciently prepared,  she  struck  the  blow  and  China  was 
completely  prostrated.' 

In  the  treaty  of  peace,  signed  at  Shimonoseki,  1895, 
it  was  provided  that  “ China  and  Japan  recognize  defi- 
nitely the  full  and  complete  independence  and  auton- 
omy, and  guarantee  the  complete  neutrality  of  Korea.” 
Again,  in  the  treaty  of  alliance  which  Japan  negotiated 
with  Korea  at  the  opening  of  the  war  with  China,  it 
had  been  declared  that  its  object  was  “ to  maintain  the 
independence  of  Korea  on  a firm  footing.”  Japan, 

'J.  H.  Longford,  The  Evolution  of  New  Japan,  p.  105. 

’ For  the  causes  and  events  of  the  war  and  peace  negotiations 
thereof,  see  the  list  of  references  given  in  the  author’s  The 
Oriental  Policy  of  the  United  States,  pp.  47-48. 


44 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


then,  as  well  as  now,  spared  no  pains  to  conceal  her 
ulterior  designs. 

After  removing  the  Chinese  obstacle,  however, 
Japan  was  surprised  to  find  that  she  had  one  more  to 
remove.  This  time  it  was  the  Korean  Queen.  Queen 
Min  is  considered  by  many  Korean  historians  as  the 
Elizabeth  of  Korea.  She,  like  the  illustrious  Queen 
of  England,  had  many  personal  shortcomings,  such  as 
feminine  vanity,  love  of  flattery,  extravagance  and 
intolerance  of  opponents.  But  she  was  a woman  of 
iron  will,  of  intense  patriotism,  and  of  astute  judg- 
ment. It  was  said  that  she  could  decide  in  ten  min- 
utes what  took  the  Cabinet  members  ten  months  to 
debate  over.  She  firmly  believed  that  the  Koreans 
should  manage  their  own  affairs  and  determine  their 
own  destiny  independent  of  foreign  influence.  She 
perceived  instinctively  that  beneath  all  the  expressions 
of  good  will  and  official  guarantees  of  Korean  inde- 
pendence Japan  had  ulterior  designs  with  regard  to 
Korea.  She  vigorously  opposed  the  spread  of  Japa- 
nese influence  as  endangering  Korean  sovereignty. 
Japanese  officials  approached  her  with  their  familiar 
tactics  of  reasoning,  threats,  bribes  and  cajolery.  But 
nothing  could  move  her.  She  stood  like  a rock  against 
beating  waves.  Finally  the  Japanese  concluded  that 
the  only  way  they  could  carry  out  their  plans  in  Korea 
was  to  remove  the  Queen;  there  was  no  alternative. 
It  was  not  a pleasant  thing  to  kill  the  Queen  of  a 
neighbouring  country,  yet  the  policy  of  Greater  Japan 
was  paramount;  nothing  must  stand  in  its  way.  So 
the  Japanese  Minister  at  Seoul,  Viscount  Miura,  under 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  45 


the  instruction  of  his  Government  at  Tokyo,  brought 
over  from  Japan  soshi  (professional  assassins)  to  exe- 
cute the  plans  of  the  Imperial  Government.  The  fol- 
lowing succinct  paragraph  from  a competent  Western 
witness  gives  the  description  of  the  murder: 

The  murder  of  the  Korean  Queen  in  1895  is  ascribed 
directly  to  this  project  (project  of  ultimately  annexing 
Korea  to  Japan),  as  the  anti-Japanese  influence  of  the 
Queen  was  an  obstacle  in  its  path.  Japanese  assassins, 
said  to  be  acting  under  instructions  from  the  accredited 
representatives  of  Japan  at  the  Korean  Court,  penetrated 
within  the  palace  precinct,  killed  the  Queen,  and  set  the 
palace  on  fire.  Meanwhile,  a group  of  the  murderers 
went  to  the  King,  brandishing  their  weapons  and  uttering 
threats;  the  King,  himself,  however,  was  not  injured. 
The  Minister  of  the  Household  Department,  who  had 
been  wounded,  fled  to  the  presence  of  the  King,  and  was 
stabbed  before  the  King’s  eyes.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing, while  still  fearing  for  his  life,  the  Korean  ruler  was 
forced  to  sign  documents  that  gave  over  all  power  into 
the  hands  of  men  who  were  under  Japanese  domination. 
Virtually  a prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  he 
finally  made  his  escape  and  took  refuge  within  the  walls 
of  the  Russian  Legation ; here  he  called  together  his 
friends,  reorganized  his  government  and  punished  his 
enemies.’ 

It  was  a gigantic  blunder,  as  well  as  a crime  of  the 
first  magnitude.  The  Japanese  authorities  at  Tokyo 
and  Seoul  at  first  tried  to  suppress  the  news.  At  that 

‘From  the  New  York  Tunes  Current  History,  September,  1919, 
p.  546.  For  full  description  of  the  murder,  see  F.  A.  McKenzie, 
Tragedy  of  Korea,  Chapters  V and  VI;  idem,  Korea’s  Fight 
for  Freedom,  Chapter  III, 


46 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


time  Colonel  Cockerill,  the  famous  correspondent  of 
the  New  York  Herald,  was  in  Seoul.  He  immediately 
cabled  the  news  to  his  paper,  but  the  message  was 
stopped  by  the  Japanese,  and  the  money  returned  to 
him.  But  gradually  the  news  leaked  out  to  Europe 
and  America,  and  was  published  in  the  leading  daily 
papers.  Then  the  Japanese  Minister,  Viscount  Miura, 
tried  to  disclaim  responsibility  for  the  crime,  but  that 
became  manifestly  impossible  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
many  foreigners  in  Seoul  knew  the  part  he  played  in 
the  murder,  and  the  very  man  who  hacked  down  the 
Queen  was  Okamoto,  one  of  the  two  right-hand  men 
of  Viscount  Miura.  The  Japanese  Court  of  Prelimi- 
nary Inquiries  at  Hiroshima  held  a farcical  trial  of  the 
murderers  in  order  to  give  to  the  West  an  impression 
that  the  guilty  were  to  be  punished.  But  the  case  was 
dismissed,  and  Viscount  Miura  and  his  accomplices  be- 
came national  heroes.*  The  side  of  the  defense,  as 
advocated  by  Mr.  Masujima,  attorney  for  Viscount 
Miura,  illustrates  better  than  anything  else  the  Japa- 
nese legal  conception  of  justice — that  killing  is  no 
murder  when  it  is  done  to  secure  political  supremacy. 
Mr.  Masujima  wrote: 

Whatever  may  be  thought  by  weaker  minds,  the  re- 
sult of  the  entente  has  been  most  happy  for  the  peace  and 
progress  of  the  world.  Had  the  Queen  been  successful 
in  her  conspiracy,  all  the  efforts  made  by  Japan  for  the 
resuscitation  of  Korea  would  have  been  fruitless.  The 
only  political  party  which  could  reform  Korea,  and 
thereby  maintain  her  independence,  would  have  been  ex- 

* For  details  of  the  trial,  see  .Appendix  I. 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  47 

tirpated.  The  Queen  was  Korean  at  heart,  and  was  ac- 
customed to  violent  and  treacherous  methods.  Supported 
by  a foreign  power  in  her  policy,  she  was  ready  to  resort 
to  any  means  to  execute  her  program.  The  promise  of  _ 
any  foreign  assistance  to  her  was  inciting  and  dangerous. 
Such  a course  of  diplomatic  procedure  must  be  put  down. 
The  emeute  crushed  the  mischief.  The  form  of  the 
Queen’s  conspiracy  was  criminal,  and  the  Japanese  Min- 
ister was  justified  in  preventing  the  execution  of  the 
criminal  attempt.  He  did  only  his  duty  as  soon  as  he 
was  in  charge  of  the  peace  and  order  of  Korea.  The 
root  of  political  troubles,  the  effects  of  which  would  have 
lasted  for  a long  time  to  come,  was  torn  up.  Considering 
the  class  of  diplomacy  prevailing  in  Korea,  Viscount 
Miura  has  accomplished  only  a triumph.* 

Regardless  of  what  the  Japanese  thought  of  the 
murder,  and  in  spite  of  the  attempt  of  the  Japanese 
officials  to  minimize  their  responsibility  therefor,  the 
incident  did  more  harm  to  Japan  before  the  Western 
world  than  anything  else  at  that  time.  Realizing  their 
mistake,  the  Japanese  Government  immediately  put  on 
the  soft  pedal.  They  abandoned  their  aggressive  tac- 
tics and  initiated  conciliatory  methods  in  their  rela- 
tions with  Korea.  The  Korean  King  was  allowed  to 
be  restored  to  power,  and  Count  Inouye,  a liberal  Japa- 
nese statesman,  was  sent  to  Korea  as  Envoy  Extraor- 
dinary to  smooth  things  over.  This  prevented  the 
rising  of  the  Korean  people  against  the  Japanese. 

In  the  following  year,  on  May  14,  1896,  Japan  gave 
her  definite  pledge  to  Russia,  that  “ the  most  complete 
and  effective  measures  will  be  taken  for  the  control  of 

’Published  in  The  Far  Fast,  February,  1896,  Vol.  I,  p.  20. 


48 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Japanese  soshi”  and  that  the  Japanese  troops  would 
be  withdrawn  from  Korea  as  soon  as  there  was  no 
apprehension  of  attack  on  Japanese  settlements  by  the 
angry  Korean  populace. 

On  April  25,  1898,  a formal  agreement  was  signed 
between  Russia  and  Japan,  the  first  article  of  which 
reads:  “The  Imperial  Governments  of  Russia  and 
Japan  recognize  definitely  the  sovereignty  and  entire 
independence  of  Korea,  and  pledge  themselves  mu- 
tually to  abstain  from  all  direct  interference  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  that  country.”  * 

Next  came  the  first  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  of 
January  30,  1902.  In  it  the  Japanese  Government 
united  with  that  of  Great  Britain  in  declaring  that  the 
sole  purpose  of  the  Alliance  was  to  preserve  the  status 
quo  and  general  peace  in  the  Far  East,  and  that  they 
were  especially  interested  in  maintaining  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  Empire  of  Korea  as  well  as  of  the 
Empire  of  China.  “ The  High  Contracting  Parties, 
having  mutually  recognized  the  independence  of  China 
and  Korea,  declare  themselves  to  be  entirely  uninflu- 
enced by  any  aggressive  tendencies  in  either  country,” 
says  the  opening  sentence  of  the  first  article  of  the 
memorable  document’ 

In  his  rescript,  declaring  war  against  Russia  in  1904, 
the  Emperor  of  Japan  asserted  the  integrity  of  Korea 
to  be  “ a matter  of  greatest  concern  to  the  Empire,” 
and  that  the  “ separate  existence  of  Korea  is  essential 
to  the  safety  of  our  realm.”  A few  days  later,  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  was  formed  between 

’Appendix  II,  (c).  ’Appendix  II,  (c). 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  49 


Korea  and  Japan  against  Russia  in  the  signed  protocol 
of  February  23,  1904.  Article  III  of  the  protocol 
contained  Japan’s  pledge;  “ The  Imperial  Government 
of  Japan  definitely  guarantees  the  independence  and 
territorial  integrity  of  the  Korean  Empire.”  ^ In  re- 
turn for  this  guarantee,  and  on  the  strength  of  the 
alliance,  the  Japanese  army  was  given  the  use  of  Ko- 
rean territory  as  a base  of  military  operations  against 
Russia.  The  physical  labour,  the  use  of  the  harbour, 
the  communication  and  transportation  facilities  and 
the  resources  of  Korea  contributed  no  small  amount  of 
aid  in  winning  the  war.  And,  as  the  former  Emperor 
of  Korea  said  in  his  letter  to  the  American  Govern- 
ment, had  Russia  won  the  war  “ she  could  have  seized 
Korea  and  annexed  her  to  Russian  territory  on  the 
ground  that  we  were  active  allies  of  Japan.”  “ 

With  all  these  treaty  pledges  and  official  declarations 
of  the  Japanese  Government  that  Japan  was  fighting 
to  preserve  Korean  independence,  the  reader  will  get  a 
clear  idea  of  Japan’s  seizure  of  Korea  if  he  could  im- 
agine that  the  American  Expeditionary  forces,  after 
driving  the  Germans  out  of  French  territory,  seized 
France  as  the  prize  of  victory.  After  the  Japanese 
army,  with  its  usual  camp  followers,  the  scum  of  the 
Japanese  population,  entered  Korea,  they  remained. 
The  treaty  of  February  23,  1904,  cited  before,  was  the 
last  treaty  that  the  Korean  Government  made  with 
Japan  of  free  will  and  choice.  From  that  time  on 
treaties  and  agreements  were  of  the  “ made  in  Japan  ” 

‘Appendix  II,  (c). 

* Congressional  Record,  August  i8,  1919,  p.  4194- 


60 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


brand  to  which  the  Korean  officials  were  compelled  to 
put  their  signatures  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 
The  Japanese  officials  knew  at  this  time  that  the  ulti- 
mate annexation  of  Korea  was  a foregone  conclusion, 
and  they  talked  about  it  freely  among  themselves. 
But  it  was  as  yet  a secret  to  the  simple-minded  Korean 
officials,  who  were  advised  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment, at  the  time  of  the  Korean-Japanese  Alliance  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  to  place 
“ full  confidence  in  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan, 
and  adopt  the  advice  of  the  latter  in  regard  to  improve- 
ments in  administration.”  Japan  could  have  annexed 
Korea  outright  then.  But  the  Japanese  wanted  to  go 
through  the  formality  of  “ agreements  ” so  that  they 
could  say  to  the  world  that  Korea  “ voluntarily  ” sur- 
rendered her  sovereignty  to  Japan, 

How  Japan  managed  these  formalities  is  told  by  an 
American  authority  on  Oriental  Politics: 

Acting  nominally  as  a free  agent,  but  actually  without 
an  option,  Korea  agreed,  in  August,  1904,  to  engage,  as 
financial  and  diplomatic  advisers,  Japanese  subjects 
recommended  by  the  Japanese,  and  that  all  matters  con- 
cerning finance  and  foreign  relations  should  be  dealt  with 
only  after  the  counsel  of  these  advisers  had  been  taken. 
Furthermore,  the  Korean  Government  agreed  to  consult 
the  Japanese  Government  “previous  to  concluding  trea- 
ties or  conventions  with  foreign  powers  and  in  dealing 
with  other  diplomatic  affairs  such  as  granting  concessions 
to  or  contracts  with  foreigners.” 

In  April,  1905,  came  an  agreement  under  which  the 
postal,  telegraph  and  telephone  services  of  Korea  were 
surrendered  into  the  control  of  Jap3;n.  And  in  August 


EELATI0N8  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  61 


of  the  same  year  it  was  claimed  by  Japan  and  recognized 
by  Great  Britain,  as  stated  in  the  renewal  of  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance,  that  Japan  possessed  “paramount 
political,  military  and  economic  interests  in  Korea.”  ^ 

The  next  month  in  the  Portsmouth  treaty  of  peace 
between  Russia  and  Japan,  Russia  made  a similar  ac- 
knowledgment as  her  war  indemnity  to  Japan.  There 
were  three  nations — Great  Britain,  Russia  and  the 
United  States — that  could  have  made  some  objection 
to  Japan’s  absorption  of  Korea.  The  United  States 
was  eliminated  as  a factor  by  reason  of  its  having 
acted  as  peacemaker  between  Russia  and  Japan.  Rus- 
sia consented  to  Japan’s  domination  of  Korea  as  her 
war  indemnity,  Great  Britain  welcomed  the  advance  of 
the  influence  of  her  Eastern  ally,  so  as  to  checkmate 
the  Russian  influence  and  protect  the  commercial  in- 
terests and  territorial  possessions  of  the  British  Em- 
pire in  the  East,  and  to  concentrate  the  British  fleet 
in  the  North  Sea  as  a counterbalance  to  Germany. 
With  the  foreign  obstacles  out  of  the  way  now  Japan 
was  ready  to  take  the  definite  step  in  destroying  the 
sovereignty  of  Korea. 

Early  in  November,  Marquis  Ito,  the  most  distin- 
guished statesman  of  Japan,  arrived  in  Seoul  as  a 
special  envoy  from  the  Emperor  of  Japan.  On  No- 
vember 15  Marquis  Ito  w’as  received  in  formal  audi- 
ence, and  there  presented  a series  of  demands  drawn 
up  in  treaty  form.  They  would  in  effect  establish  the 
Japanese  protectorate  over  Korea.  They  provided 

* W.  W.  Willoughby,  “Japan  and  Korea,”  The  Unpartizan  Re- 
view, Februar}',  1920,  pp.  26-27. 


62 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


that  the  Japanese  Department  of  Foreign  Aifairs  was 
henceforth  to  have  “ control  and  direction  of  the  ex- 
ternal relations  and  affairs  of  Korea,”  and  Japanese 
diplomatic  and  consular  officials  were  to  have  charge 
of  Korean  interests  in  foreign  countries;  further, 
Japan  was  to  be  represented  at  the  Korean  capital  by 
a “ Resident-General,”  and  by  “ Residents  ” at  the  sev- 
eral open  ports  or  at  such  other  places  as  the  Japanese 
Government  might  deem  necessary.  The  last  article 
provided  that  “ The  Japanese  Government  guarantees 
to  maintain  the  security  and  respect  the  dignity  of  the 
Korean  Imperial  House.” 

The  Korean  Emperor  and  his  Cabinet  Ministers 
were  aghast,  and  the  demands  were  met  with  blank 
refusal.  The  conversation  between  the  Emperor  and 
the  Marquis  follows: 

The  Emperor  said. 

Although  I have  seen  in  the  newspapers  various  ru- 
mours that  Japan  proposed  to  assume  a protectorate  over 
Korea  I did  not  believe  them,  as  I placed  faith  in  Japan’s 
adherence  to  the  promise  to  maintain  the  independence 
of  Korea  which  was  made  by  the  Emperor  of  Japan  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War  and  embodied 
in  a treaty  between  Korea  and  Japan.  When  I heard 
you  were  coming  to  my  countiy  I was  glad,  as  I believed 
your  mission  was  to  increase  the  friendship  between  our 
countries,  and  your  demands  have,  therefore,  taken  me 
entirely  by  surprise. 

To  which  Marquis  Ito  rejoined, 

These  demands  are  not  my  own ; I am  only  acting  in 
accordance  with  a mandate  from  my  Government,  and  if 
Your  Majesty  will  agree  to  the  demands  which  I have 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  63 


presented  it  will  be  to  the  benefit  of  both  nations,  and 
peace  in  the  East  will  be  assured  forever.  Please,  there- 
fore, consent  quickly. 

The  Emperor  replied. 

From  time  immemorial  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the 
rulers  of  Korea,  when  confronted  with  questions  so  mo- 
mentous as  this,  to  come  to  no  decision  until  all  the  Min- 
isters, high  and  low,  who  hold  or  have  held  office,  have 
been  consulted,  and  the  opinion  of  the  scholars  and  the 
common  people  has  been  obtained,  so  that  I cannot  now 
settle  this  matter  myself. 

Said  Marquis  Ito  again. 

Protests  from  the  people  can  easily  be  disposed  of,  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  friendship  between  the  two  countries 
Your  Majesty  should  come  to  a decision  at  once. 

To  this  the  Emperor  replied, 

Assent  to  your  proposal  would  mean  the  ruin  of  my 
country,  and  I will,  therefore,  sooner  die  than  agree  to 
them. 

After  five  hours  of  arguing  with  the  Emperor,  the 
Marquis  left  the  palace  without  accomplishing  any- 
thing. He  at  once  tackled  the  Cabinet  Ministers  indi- 
vidually and  collectively.  He  argued  with  them;  of- 
fered them  bribes  of  immense  fortune;  threatened  to 
kill  them  if  they  refused  to  yield.  One  of  the  argu- 
ments used  by  the  Marquis,  which  might  be  of  par- 
ticular interest  to  the  Western  reader,  was  that  the 
union  of  Korea  and  Japan  would  create  the  basis  of  a 
great  nation,  composed  of  all  yellow  races,  to  check- 
mate the  spreading  influence  of  the  white  man  who  was 


64 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


ever  bent  to  exploit  and  subdue  all  other  races.  Thus, 
the  union  of  tvi^o  nations  would  be  not  only  a blessing 
but  a necessity  for  the  future  welfare  of  the  Asiatic 
peoples.  To  the  Occidental  mind  the  cunning  of  the 
Japanese  is  almost  incomprehensible.  In  trying  to  in- 
duce the  Cabinet  Ministers  to  sign  the  treaty  no  stone 
was  left  unturned.  Every  phase  of  intimidation,  ca- 
jolery, reasoning  and  bribery  was  resorted  to.  Mar- 
quis Ito,  Minister  Hayashi,  Japanese  Minister  in  Seoul, 
and  Marshal  Hasegawa,  the  Commander  of  Japanese 
soldiers  in  Korea,  took  their  turns  in  grilling  the  min- 
isters through  this  “ third  degree,”  using  every  means 
short  of  actual  violence.  But  every  one  of  the  Min- 
isters stood  firm.  The  Japanese  were  determined  to 
give  the  Cabinet  no  time  to  gather  its  strength,  and  the 
grilling  went  on  till  the  night  of  November  17  when 
the  Cabinet  meeting  was  held  in  the  palace. 

Meanwhile,  the  Japanese  soldiers  in  Seoul  were 
fully  prepared  to  carry  out  the  plans  of  Marquis  Ito. 
The  army  in  the  district  was  mobilized;  streets  were 
guarded  with  machine  guns ; the  field  guns  commanded 
strategic  points;  the  soldiers  marched  through  the 
streets  and  around  the  palace,  and  the  Government 
buildings,  fully  armed.  All  this  had  a sinister  mean- 
ing to  the  Emperor  and  his  Cabinet  Ministers.  They 
well  remembered  the  fateful  night  in  1895  when  the 
Japanese  surrounded  the  palace  of  the  Queen  and  mur- 
dered her.  Japan  had  done  this  before;  why  could 
she  not  do  it  again  ? 

That  night  Japanese  soldiers  and  gendarmes  threw 
a cordon  around  the  palace  where  the  ill-fated  Cabinet 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  65 


meeting  was  being  held.  The  very  courtyard  of  the 
palace  was  filled  with  gleaming  bayonets  of  the  sol- 
diers, and  the  rattling  of  the  swords  could  be  heard 
in  the  Cabinet  Chamber.  Now  Marquis  Ito  arrived 
with  Marshal  Hasegawa,  Commander  of  the  Japanese 
army  in  Korea,  and  demanded  an  audience  with  the 
Emperor,  This  was  refused.  Thereupon  the  Mar- 
quis went  outside  to  the  Ministers  and  said,  “ Your 
Emperor  has  commanded  you  to  confer  with  me  and 
settle  this  matter,”  A fresh  attack  was  started  on  the 
Ministers.  Finally  the  argument  boiled  down  to 
“Agree  with  us  and  be  rich,  or  oppose  us  and  perish,” 
and  thereupon  Marshal  Hasegawa  drew  his  sword. 
“ Cut  us  down  if  you  dare ! ” said  the  Prime  Minister 
Han  Kew  Sul,  the  ablest  Korean  statesman  at  that 
time.  “We  will  show  you,”  retorted  the  Marshal, 
and  the  Japanese  officers  dragged  the  Premier  out  into 
a side  room.  The  rest  of  the  Cabinet  members 
thought  that  the  Premier  was  killed,  and  their  turn 
would  come  next.  They  had  fought  for  days  and 
fought  alone.  No  single  foreign  representative  had 
offered  them  help  or  counsel.  Now  their  leader  was 
gone,  and  their  cause  was  a lost  one.  They  saw  sub- 
mission or  destruction  before  them.  “ Nothing  can  be 
saved  by  our  dying,”  said  one  of  them.  At  the  end  of 
the  all-night  conference  in  the  palace,  three  of  the 
Ministers  gave  their  signatures  to  the  treaty.  The 
Emperor  and  Premier  Han  Kew  Sul  never  consented 
to  it. 

The  news  of  the  signing  of  the  treaty  was  received 
with  horror  and  indignation  by  the  people.  In  many 


66 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


places  people  rose  en  masse  to  fight  the  Japanese,  but 
of  this  I shall  speak  later  in  another  chapter.  The 
literati  of  the  country  petitioned  the  Emperor  to  annul 
the  treaty  and  punish  the  traitors.  But  the  three  Min- 
isters who  gave  signatures  to  the  foreclosing  of  the 
life  of  their  nation  were  protected  by  Japanese  sol- 
diers; they  were  the  most  abject  creatures  in  the  land, 
hated  even  by  the  members  of  their  own  families. 
Many  high  officials,  the  most  distinguished  of  whom 
was  Prince  Min  Yong  Whan,  a former  Minister  of 
War  and  special  Korean  Ambassador  at  Queen  Vic- 
toria’s Diamond  Jubilee,  committed  suicide  as  a means 
of  protest — an  Oriental  custom  of  passive  resistance. 
All  this  carried  no  effect.  Japan  had  the  most  invin- 
cible of  all  arguments — force.  The  Whang  Sung 
News,  a Korean  daily  in  Seoul,  expressed  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people  in  its  editorial  as  follows: 

When  it  was  recently  made  known  that  Marquis  Ito 
would  come  to  Korea,  our  deluded  people  all  said  with 
one  voice  that  he  is  the  man  who  will  be  responsible  for 
the  maintenance  of  friendship  between  the  three  coun- 
tries of  the  Far  East  (Japan,  China  and  Korea),  and 
believing  that  his  visit  to  Korea  was  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  devising  good  plans  for  strictly  maintaining  the  prom- 
ised integrity  and  independence  of  Korea,  our  people, 
from  the  seacoast  to  the  capital,  united  in  extending  to 
him  a hearty  welcome. 

But,  oh!  How  difficult  is  it  to  anticipate  affairs  in 
this  world.  Without  warning  a proposal  containing  five 
clauses  was  laid  before  the  Emperor,  and  we  then  saw 
how  mistaken  we  were  about  the  object  of  Marquis  Ito’s 
visit.  However,  the  Emperor  firmly  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  these  proposals,  and  Marquis  Ito 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  67 


should  then,  properly,  have  abandoned  his  attempt  and 
returned  to  his  own  country. 

♦ *♦**♦* 

Is  it  worth  while  for  any  of  us  to  live  any  longer? 
Our  people  have  become  the  slaves  of  others,  and  the 
spirit  of  a nation  which  has  stood  for  4,000  years,  since 
the  days  of  Tan-Koon  and  Kija,  has  perished  in  a single 
night.  Alas!  fellow-countrymen,  alas! 

The  paper  was  promptly  suppressed,  and  the  editor 
put  in  prison. 

Korea  was  Japan’s  ally  instead  of  an  enemy,  so  it 
was  not  even  a vindictive  action  on  the  part  of  the 
victor.  It  was  a plain  case  of  Japan’s  breaking  her 
sacred  pledge  and  betraying  an  ally  and  friend  who 
trusted  her  implicitly  in  order  to  carry  out  her  pro- 
gram of  imperial  expansion.  “ We  must  have  Korea 
as  an  integral  part  of  our  Empire,  regardless  of  every- 
thing else,  so  that  we  may  realize  our  national  dream 
of  Pan-Asiatic  doctrine,”  said  Japanese  statesmen 
among  themselves  at  that  time.  Subsequent  events 
have  proved  that  they  were  right.* 

In  the  summer  of  1907  the  Emperor  of  Korea,  vir- 
tually a prisoner  at  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  secretly 
sent  a delegation  to  the  Hague  Conference  to  appeal  to 
the  Powers  for  the  restoration  of  the  independence  of 

’ For  fuller  details  on  the  establishment  of  the  Japanese  Pro- 
tectorate over  Korea,  see  F.  A.  McKenzie,  Tragedy  of  Korea, 
Chap.  XI,  “Treaty-making  and  Treaty-breaking,”  idem,  Korea’s 
Fight  for  Freedom,  Chap.  V,  “ The  New  Era.”  For  Chinese  and 
Korean  sources  on  the  subject.  Park  In  Sick,  The  Tragic  History 
of  Korea  (Chinese  edition,  Shanghai,  1915,  and  Korean  History 
(Korean  edition,  Shanghai,  1919),  prepared  by  the  Korean  His- 
torical Commission,  are  among  the  best. 


68 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Korea.  The  envoys  failed  in  securing  a hearing,  but 
that  instance  furnished  an  ample  excuse  to  the  Japa- 
nese authorities  in  Korea  to  complete  their  iron  rule. 
Pressure  \vas  brought  to  bear  upon  the  old  Emperor  to 
abdicate  in  favour  of  his  son,  who  was  mentally  defi- 
cient, and  whom  the  Japanese  knew  they  could  sur- 
round with  controlling  influences.  Arguments  and 
threats  were  used,  the  old  Emperor  was  told  that  if  he 
did  not  consent  he  and  the  Royal  Family  would  be  for- 
cibly dethroned  and  perhaps  executed.  Such  threats 
being  without  sufficient  force,  the  Japanese  threatened 
to  do  dire  things  to  the  people  and  the  country.  Fi- 
nally, worn  out  and  bewildered,  the  old  Emperor  did 
abdicate  in  favour  of  this  mental  incompetent  on  July 
19,  1907.  Five  days  later,  with  this  mental  deficient 
on  the  throne,  Japan  published  an  alleged  treaty  with 
Korea,  by  the  provisions  of  which  Japan  took  control 
of  all  the  branches  of  the  Korean  Government.  The 
Government  of  Korea  must  “ act  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Resident-General  in  respect  to  reforms  in  ad- 
ministration ; ” it  must  not  “ enact  any  laws,  ordi- 
nances or  regulations  or  take  any  important  measures 
of  administration  without  the  previous  assent  of  the 
Resident-General.”  Further,  the  consent  of  the  Resi- 
dent-General was  to  be  obtained  for  the  appointment 
or  removal  of  high  officials,  and  the  Korean  Govern- 
ment was  to  “ appoint  as  Korean  officials  the  Japanese 
subjects  recommended  by  the  Resident-General.”  ’ 

At  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Japanese 

’ For  full  text  of  the  treaties  between  Korea  and  Japan,  see  the 
author’s  Korean  Treaties  (New  York,  1919). 


EELATIONS  BETWEEN  KOEEA  AND  JAPAN  69 


alleged  Protectorate  over  Korea,  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment assured  the  outside  world,  and  especially  the  Ko- 
rean people,  that  the  Protectorate  was  more  or  less  a 
temporary  measure  better  to  insure  peace  in  the  Orient 
and  to  assist  the  Korean  Government  until  the  latter 
should  be  more  stabilized.  Further,  it  was  explicitly 
provided  that  the  Japanese  Government  should  “ guar- 
antee to  maintain  the  security  and  respect  the  dignity 
of  the  Korean  Imperial  Household.”  Even  these 
pledges  were  swept  aside  when  Japan  forced  the  abdi- 
cation of  the  former  Korean  Emperor  in  1907,  and 
finally  annexed  the  country  to  the  Japanese  Empire  in 
1910,  making  it  into  a province.  Chosen.  W.  W. 
Willoughby,  the  well-known  diplomat  and  historian, 
commenting  on  this  period  of  Korean  history,  says: 

It  is  evident  that  Korea  had  now,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  passed  completely  under  the  control  of  Japan. 
Japanese  high  officials  continued  to  assert,  however,  that 
there  was  no  intention  upon  the  part  of  their  Government 
to  annex  Korea.  In  1908  this  was  publicly  asserted  by 
Prince  Ito,  the  Resident-General  at  Seoul.  In  1910, 
nevertheless,  Japan  deemed  that  the  time  had  come  for- 
mally to  take  Korea  unto  herself,  and  this  was  made 
known  to  the  world  in  the  treaty  of  August  29.* 

If  this  whole  case  of  Japan’s  occupation  of  Korea 
were  put  up  to  an  international  jurist,  his  first  question 
would  be:  How  did  Japan  secure  this  militaristic  grip 
on  Korea?  Under  what  right  or  authority,  or  how 
did  she  get  her  armies  into  Korea  in  the  first  place? 

*W.  W.  Willoughby,  "Japan  and  Korea,”  The  Unpartizan 
Review,  January,  1920,  p.  28. 


60 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


The  reply  would  be  that  Japan  entered  Korea  with  her 
armies  under  the  treaty  of  February  23,  1904,  which 
provided  that; 

Article  III.  The  Imperial  Government  of  Ja- 
pan definitely  guarantees  the  independence  and 
territorial  integrity  of  the  Korean  Empire. 

The  conclusion  would  then  be  that  Japan’s  original 
entry  into  Korea  and  her  original  possession  of  Korea 
was  that  of  a guardian  taking  possession  of  the  prop- 
erty and  person  of  his  ward. 

The  international  jurist  would  then  want  to  know 
whether  Japan  has  ever  surrendered  the  property  back 
to  the  ward,  leaving  the  ward  free  to  act  without  coer- 
cion, and  the  answer  would  be  that  she  has  not,  that 
her  armies  are  still  there.  The  next  question  would 
be:  What  has  become  of  the  property  of  the  ward  en- 
trusted to  the  care  of  the  guardian,  and  the  answer 
would  be  that  the  guardian  has  embezzled  and  con- 
verted it  to  his  own  use.  Then  would  come  the  final 
question:  What  has  become  of  the  person  of  the  ward? 
And  the  world  will  have  to  answer:  Japan  is  strangling 
her  to  death. 


Ill 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPRESSION 
FTER  the  country  was  formally  annexed,  all 


the  impediments  which  had  hitherto  stood  in 


the  way  of  Japanese  administrative  policy 
were  swept  aside.  Extra-territoriality  was  abolished, 
and  foreign  residents,  who  had  enjoyed  the  protection 
of  their  own  Governments,  were  placed  along  with  the 
Koreans  under  Japanese  laws.  General  Seiki  Te- 
rauchi,  the  former  Minister  of  War  of  Japan,  came  to 
Korea  to  assume  the  title  of  the  Governor-General  of 
Korea.  He  is  a professional  militarist  by  training 
and  experience  and  an  ardent  believer  in  the  policy  of 
carrying  out  the  will  of  Dai  Nippon  by  sword  and  fire. 
He  was  given  unlimited  power  by  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment to  accomplish  this  end.  He  was  made  re- 
sponsible neither  to  the  Cabinet  nor  to  the  Diet,  but 
only  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan.  Nominally,  important 
measures  adopted  by  him  in  his  administration  of 
Korea  had  to  be  approved  by  the  Emperor  before  they 
became  permanent,  but  not  a single  act  of  his  was  ever 
vetoed  by  the  Emperor.  Thus,  he  was,  in  practice, 
the  lawgiver,  the  chief  executive,  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  army  and  navy,  and  the  highest  tribunal. 

With  this  authority  of  dictatorship.  General  Te- 
rauchi  promptly  reversed  the  lenient  policy  of  assimi- 
lation first  adopted  by  Marquis  Ito,  and  launched  his 
mailed-fist  method  of  moulding  Koreans  into  Japanese 


6i 


62 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


— an  inferior  brand  of  Japanese — by  force  and  coer- 
cion. “ The  Koreans  must  submit  to  our  rule  or 
perish,”  was  the  slogan  of  both  General  Terauchi  and 
his  successor,  Marshal  Hasegawa,  in  their  administra- 
tion of  Korea.  With  systematic  thoroughness  they 
sought  to  change  everything  that  was  Korean  into 
Japanese.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  change  the 
names  of  places.  Thus,  Korea  became  Chosen ; Seoul 
(the  capital),  Keijo;  Pyeng  Yang,  Heijo;  etc.,  accord- 
ing to  Japanese  pronunciation  of  Chinese  characters. 
And  woe  to  any  one  who  stood  in  their  way,  for  a 
mysterious  method  would  soon  be  found  to  make  him 
“ disappear.”  And  in  Korea  under  Japanese  rule  if  a 
Korean  incurs  the  displeasure  of  Japanese  authorities 
and  is  made  to  “ disappear,”  he  seldom  reappears. 

Korean  officials  in  important  positions  were  swept 
aside,  and  Japanese  were  introduced  to  take  their 
places.  In  case  Koreans  were  left  in  responsible  posi- 
tions, which  was  done  occasionally  to  have  a pretext 
in  official  year  books  and  to  show  Western  tourists 
that  Japan  allows  Koreans  a share  in  the  administra- 
tion of  Korea,  their  actions  were  governed  absolutely 
by  a Japanese  “ Adviser  ” and  the  Korean  Governor 
or  Magistrate  could  not  do  the  least  thing  without 
the  sanction  of  his  “ Adviser.”  In  case  a Korean 
Governor  or  a Magistrate  disregarded  the  will  of  the 
Japanese  “Adviser”  under  him,  he  would  be  re- 
moved from  his  office  promptly.  From  time  imme- 
morial every  Korean  town  has  elected  its  own  mayor, 
and  the  Central  Government  has  never  interfered 
with  this  privilege  of  local  self-government.  The 


THE  IXDEPEXDEXCE  ARCH  OUTSIDE  SEOUL  GRANITE  BUDDHA 

Erected  by  the  Independence  riub  at  the  time  the  Korean  70  Feet  IliRh  and  20  Feet  in  Diameter,  of  the  Sila  Dynasty, 
King  was  Crownec!  Emperor  of  Korea  on  Oct(d)er  12.  iK<)7.  over  a Thousand  Years  Ago.  It  Took  Koreans  Twenty 
at  Imperial  Round  Hill.  Years  to  Build  this  Stone  Image. 


■?»  * 


. »it 

4 


••  ♦ .' r* ', . *■  ■» 


*■ ' * .-  --  - - ^ 2^  j-'  • • ' 

*-  »k^  ‘ • • ’ ' '•  ^ ' 1^  '*  •-  '*:•  -^r  u ^ •v.’^  i 

, t\^'^  WV  f 1 * ^ 


Ary  .•■«,••  .. 


rV;  ■ ■ !«•>'■( 


^ \^.~Tr*  ‘Si  i ’^.i 
tA  ' 


% 


\'i» 


■-  - • 

7 


•■  ' . .T*  » 


: ,kV '*  ■ ^5 r.  V W 

i,  \;.4  • ‘J  > •' * 


«> 


•*  r*.  ^ ^ 


r-.  • -■■-w.;.  ,'.V  V,  V 

■ *>Cti*'*JSfc"  V * . ' .iM  .<*  yt  - 

--  '■*  - •-  - . ,.  ‘.i 

jr-^  .-  ■ 

'‘.4;''  f.7^  > *-M  N%rt  ^ 

■ '’tv.,.  . • i'i 


-f.r 


■ '’Tv 

S^'V  ••  *■.,♦•#.  ,!,  .V,,  S?i  a-j 

• ■ ■ ■’■  '■*“  - ■ ,.‘,  '.w 


•5.  *.'r 


I, ' 


A’ 


*.  4' 

' •*  V.'  ■ "*  ' * 

■v'  , : 

.»  r < >*<4  SenIm 


: ’:^ 

t 

#v.  ,• 


. .p 

.-UK 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPEESSION  63 


Japanese  have  taken  away  even  this  right.  In  a num- 
ber of  large  cities  Japanese  mayors  were  placed  in  con- 
trol of  affairs,  and  in  other  cities  the  local  gendarmerie 
(now  police)  conduct  the  administration.  In  a re- 
markable paper  prepared  by  a British  resident  of 
Korea  and  presented  to  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America  in  1919*  the  writer 
states; 

It  was  fondly  hoped  by  Koreans  that  as  the  years  went 
by  and  their  stronger  men  acquired  more  experience  and 
were  educated  under  the  Japanese  administration,  the 
higher  official  positions  would  be  thrown  open  to  them. 
The  opposite  has  been  the  policy  and  practice  of  the 
Japanese.  In  1910  six  out  of  thirteen  provincial  gov- 
ernors were  Korean,  now  there  are  only  three.  At  that 
time  all  district  magistracies  were  held  by  Koreans,  now 
at  least  one-seventh  of  the  largest  districts  are  governed 
by  Japanese  magistrates,  and  even  in  some  places  the 
village  provostship  has  been  transferred  to  Japanese 
hands.  The  number  of  judgeships  that  have  gone  to  the 
Koreans  is  very  small,  and  all  school  principals  are  Japa- 
nese. The  story  is  the  same  in  every  public  depart- 
ment. But  it  is  not  only  in  the  filling  of  offices 
that  the  discrimination  appears,  but  also  in  the  dignity 
and  the  remuneration  attaching  thereto.  The  Japa- 
nese officials  of  the  same  rank  receive  forty  per  cent, 
higher  salaries  than  the  Koreans,  and  in  addition,  allow- 
ances for  colonial  service.  This  may  happen  in  the  case 
of  men  who  graduate  from  the  same  school.' 

Laws  that  govern  Japanese  subjects  in  Korea  are 
identical  with  those  in  Japan  proper.  But  for  Koreans 
the  Japanese  administration  applies  a different  code 
*The  Korean  Situation  (pamphlet  issued  by  the  Council),  p.  115. 


64 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


of  justice.  Their  explanation  is  that  the  Korean  is 
not  advanced  enough  to  enjoy  the  high  code  of  legal 
justice  as  is  the  Japanese.  The  laws  and  regulations 
that  govern  the  minutest  phase  of  the  Korean’s  life 
must  be  made  and  administered  by  the  Japanese  over- 
lords.  And  he  is  not  permitted  to  complain.  The 
country  is  completely  covered  with  a network  of  offi- 
cialdom, so  that  not  only  overt  acts,  but  secret 
thoughts  that  are  in  any  way  inimical  to  Japanese, 
must  not  be  entertained  by  Koreans.  An  American 
writer,  who  visited  Korea  after  the  alleged  Reforms 
of  1919  were  introduced  by  Japanese  to  abolish  the 
old  abuses,  writes: 

Fair  promises  have  come  repeatedly  both  from  Tokyo 
and  the  Governor-General  in  Seoul,  but  the  reforms  have 
been  slight.  What  relief  there  has  been  has  served  only 
to  throw  into  higher  light  the  lack  of  any  change  of  real 
value,  and  such  as  it  is,  it  has  been  hedged  about  with 
so  many  reservations  as  to  be  well-nigh  meaningless.  The 
basic  grievances  of  the  Koreans  remain  untouched.  They 
are  still  at  the  mercy  of  the  military  officials  and  of  the 
numberless  police.  The  most  minute  phases  of  their  ex- 
istence are  still  in  the  absolute  control  of  a multitudinous 
and  autocratic  bureaucracy:  17,000  officials  for  a popu- 
lation of  17,000,000,  compared  with  1,200  in  India  for  a 
population  of  300,000,000.’ 

Habeas  corpus  is  unknown  in  Korea,  and  every 
man  is  considered  guilty  until  he  proves  his  innocence. 
The  law  courts  in  Korea  are  a part  of  the  administra- 
tive system  under  the  Governor-General.  The  ju- 

’ Nathaniel  Peffer,  “Korea,”  in  the  New  Republic,  March  lO, 
1920,  p.  56. 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPEESSION  65 


diciary,  instead  of  being  independent  and  a bulwark 
of  liberty  for  those  oppressed  by  other  branches  of 
the  administration,  as  it  is  in  America  and  Great 
Britain,  forms  a part  and  parcel  of  the  system.  The 
judges,  the  nominees  of  the  Governor-General,  cannot 
be  expected,  under  the  circumstances,  to  be  unbiased. 
They  have  the  absolute  authority  to  select  the  evidence 
they  will  admit.  The  defendant  has  no  right  to  call 
witnesses  on  his  own  behalf.  He  may  have  a com- 
plete defense  and  not  be  allowed  to  present  it.  He 
can  only  make  request  that  witnesses  be  called,  and 
the  judges  grant  the  application  or  not  as  they  see  fit. 
The  judges’  action  is  not  subject  to  review  by  a higher 
court.  The  absurd  extent  to  which  this  discretionary 
power  of  the  trial  judges  is  carried  is  illustrated  in  the 
following  judicial  decision: 

It  belongs  to  the  authority  exclusively  of  the 
judges  concerned  to  decide  whether  in  the  trials 
of  a criminal  case  the  examination  of  a given 
evidence  is  necessary  or  not.  This  authority  of 
the  judges  is  not  to  be  circumscribed  at  all  by 
the  nature,  kind  or  degree  of  importance  of  the 
particular  evidence. 

This  discretionary  power  of  the  judges  applies  also 
to  the  production  of  documents  or  other  like  evidence. 
Furthermore,  the  Japanese  language  is  the  official 
language  of  the  land,  and  all  court  proceedings  must 
be  carried  on  in  that  tongue.  In  a recent  case  where  a 
British  subject  was  prosecuting  a number  of  Japanese 
policemen  and  gendarmes  for  an  unprovoked  and 
murderous  assault,  the  Japanese  interpreter  persist- 


66 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


ently  spoke  of  a British  passport  as  a pocketbook, 
presumably  to  make  the  crime  less  obnoxious  and 
punishable.  If  this  could  occur  in  open  court,  where 
the  interests  of  an  alien  were  involved,  how  often 
must  it  occur  where  Korean  interests  are  involved, 
where  the  person  doing  the  interpreting  is  of  less  high 
standing,  and  it  is  known  to  all  that  the  Korean  is 
without  redress  in  case  of  injustice?  Then,  all  of 
the  judges  and  procurators  (state’s  attorneys)  are 
Japanese,  for  since  the  annexation  a Korean  lawyer 
has  become  a very  rare  person.  In  cases  where 
Koreans  and  Japanese  are  involved,  it  is  a foregone 
conclusion  that  the  Koreans  do  not  obtain  a shadow 
of  justice. 

Perhaps  the  worst  feature  of  the  Japanese  legal 
system  in  Korea  is  the  judiciary  power  given  to  the 
police.  Police  officers  of  a dominating  power  in  a 
dependent  country  are  seldom  of  high  calibre.  They 
are  prone  to  ride  roughshod  over  the  helpless  natives. 
But  in  Korea  the  Japanese  police  are  given  power  to 
treat  the  native  as  their  legitimate  victim.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  taken  from  the  Japanese  Government 
report,  The  Annual  Report  on  Reforms  and  Progress 
in  Chosen,  will  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  ex- 
traordinary power  given  to  the  police: 

The  police  authorities  sometimes  have  to  par- 
ticipate in  judicial  affairs;  to  act  as  public 
bailiffs  in  distraining  property  and  often  to  serve 
as  procurators  in  district  courts. 

The  police  authorities  can  inspect  the  resi- 
dence of  any  private  individual  wherever  there 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPRESSION  67 


is  a suspicion  of  the  concealment  of  firearms  or 
gunpowder,  or  when  they  deem  it  necessary. 

That  the  authorities  thus  boldly  publish  such  items 
as  this  in  a book  given  up  to  extolling  their  good  works 
in  Korea,  would  seem  to  indicate  an  utter  ignorance 
that  such  actions  by  the  police  are  infractions  of  hu- 
man rights  common  to  the  people  of  all  civilized  coun- 
tries, But  a comment  more  to  the  point  is  taken  from 
the  Japan  Chronicle: 

In  the  course  of  interpellations  put  forward  by  a cer- 
tain member  in  the  last  session  of  the  Diet,  he  remarked 
on  the  strength  of  a statement  made  by  a public  proc- 
urator of  high  rank  in  Korea,  that  it  was  usual  for  a 
gendarme,  who  visits  a Korean  house  for  the  purpose  of 
searching  for  a criminal,  to  violate  any  female  inmate  of 
the  house  and  to  take  away  any  article  that  suits  his 
fancy.  And  not  only  had  the  wronged  Koreans  no 
means  of  obtaining  redress  for  this  outrageous  conduct, 
but  the  judicial  authorities  could  take  no  proceedings 
against  the  offender  as  they  must  necessarily  depend 
upon  the  gendarmerie  for  acceptable  evidence  of  crime. 

The  Japanese  procurator  may  assert  that  such  ac- 
tion by  the  gendarmerie  is  usually  a gross  exaggera- 
tion. There  is  certainly  nothing  to  prevent  such 
abuses,  and  the  statement  that  the  Korean  people  have 
no  redress  against  the  police  oppression  is  literally  true. 
Since  the  police  are  empowered  to  search  any  home 
without  warrant  “ when  they  deem  it  necessary/"  is 
there  any  reason  to  assume  that  they  would  not  do  it? 

A most  serious  phase  in  the  matter  of  judicial  ad- 
ministration in  Korea  is  the  fact  that  the  system  gives 


68 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


no  assurance  for  justice  to  any  one  who  may  be  caught 
in  its  toils.  Nowhere  in  the  whole  process  has  there 
been  any  attempt  to  safeguard  the  innocent,  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  are  six  things  that  make  it  prac- 
tically impossible  to  clear  a person  against  whom  a 
case  has  been  made.  They  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  right  of  the  police  to  arrest  without  due 
process  of  law.  No  warrant  is  required  for  arrest. 
Neither  the  prisoner,  his  attorney,  his  family,  nor 
his  friends  have  any  way  of  ascertaining  the  charge, 
if  any,  on  which  the  arrest  and  detention  is  made. 
Bail  is  not  often  allowed,  and  not  at  all  during  the 
preliminary  investigation.  The  right  of  habeas 
corpus  is  imknown. 

2.  Presumption  of  guilt.  Instead  of  following 
the  true  legal  maxim  that  “ every  man  is  considered 
innocent  until  proven  guilty,”  the  official  and  popu- 
lar attitude  is  the  very  reverse  of  this,  and  the  Japa- 
nese newspapers  refer  to  the  accused  as  criminals. 
The  expression  “ proving  the  guilt  ” of  the  accused 
is  never  heard.  In  case  of  acquittal,  it  is  said  that 
he  “ proved  his  innocence  ” or  was  pardoned. 

3.  Right  of  counsel  is  denied.  An  accused  per- 
son is  not  allowed  to  talk  with  a lawyer  or  with 
others  about  his  defense  until  after  the  police  investi- 
gation and  the  hearing  before  the  procurator  (prose- 
cuting attorney)  has  been  concluded.  During  this 
period  of  investigation  the  accused  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  police  with  all  access  to  the  outside  world 
completely  cut  off,  and  the  sole  object  of  the  police 
is  to  make  a case  that  will  insure  conviction.  In- 
deed, before  a lawyer  can  participate  in  the  case  a 
written  record  is  made  up  wffiich  is  used  as  evidence, 
and  in  the  discretion  of  the  judges  may  be  the  only 
evidence  that  can  be  introduced  at  the  trial.  Under 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPEESSION  69 


such  circumstances,  the  accused,  being  without 
counsel,  is  in  a pitiable  situation,  for  who  will  shape 
his  defense;  who  will  match  the  trained  minds  and 
shrewd  wits  of  the  officers  of  the  law ; who  will  keep 
him  from  being  an  easy  prey  to  legal  traps ; and  who 
will  there  be  to  challenge  illegal  acts  and  procedure  ? 

4.  Secret  police  investigation.  Here  is  the  very 
citadel  of  this  iniquitous  system.  It  is  beyond  dis- 
pute that  the  police  use  threats,  deception  and  all 
forms  of  physical  and  mental  torture  to  secure  ad- 
missions of  guilt  or  in  their  efforts  to  gain  incrim- 
inating evidence  against  others-.  When  such  admis- 
sion or  evidence  is  obtained,  it  is  reduced  to  writing, 
signed  by  the  accused,  and  becomes  the  basis  for 
inquiry  both  before  the  procurator  and  the  trial 
judge.  One  would  expect  that  the  court  would  look 
upon  such  testimony  with  suspicion,  and  that  unless 
it  was  confirmed  or  corroborated  in  open  court,  it 
would  be  thought  an  insufficient  basis  for  conviction. 
On  the  contrary  experience  shows  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  get  the  judges  to  give  credence  to  evi- 
dence tending  to  overthrow  false  admissions  made 
under  the  pressure  of  the  secret  police  investigation. 
The  police  court  has  practically  the  determination 
of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused.  The  police 
can  and  do  hold  accused  persons  in  their  custody 
for  months  without  trial  or  giving  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  consult  with  counsel  or  friends.  During 
this  time  they  apply  such  methods  as  they  choose  in 
order  to  secure  from  the  accused  admissions  of 
guilt.  The  one  official  reply  to  the  charge  that  tor- 
ture is  practiced  during  police  examination  is  that 
the  law  does  not  permit  of  such  practice,  and  there- 
fore, it  cannot  exist. 

When  “police”  are  thus  mentioned  it  should  be 
recalled  that  this  term  includes  the  vast  secret  serv- 


70 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


ice  and  espionage  system  built  up  by  the  Japanese 
in  Korea,  than  which  a more  extensive  or  oppressive 
system,  it  is  safe  to  say,  does  not  exist  anywhere 
else  in  the  world. 

5.  Collusion  between  police  and  procurator.  The 
procurator  acts  as  prosecuting  attorney  when  the 
case  is  tried,  but  in  advance  of  this  the  prisoners 
are  brought  before  him  for  preliminary  examination. 
After  this  examination  he  has  the  authority  to  re- 
verse the  police  findings.  However,  the  police  re- 
port quoted  above  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
the  police  often  serve  as  procurators.  In  such  cases 
the  hearing  must  be  mere  empty  form.  A Japanese 
lawyer  in  the  course  of  his  argument  on  a very  im- 
portant case  said : “ This  case  convinces  me  that  the 
police  and  procurators  are  one  and  the  same.”  This 
makes  the  procurators  only  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
police.  Once  in  the  hands  of  the  police,  the  result 
is  a foregone  conclusion. 

6.  Biased  Judges.  The  process  verbal  from  the 
police  court  and  procurator  is  used  as  evidence  on 
the  trial  before  the  judges.  Judges  are  required  to 
familiarize  themselves  with  this  record  before  the 
hearing  begins.  Thus  they  form  their  opinions  be- 
fore the  defendant  or  his  counsel  can  be  heard. 
Such  bias  is  sufficient  to  disqualify  a juror  under 
American  or  British  systems,  but  in  Korea,  it  is  re- 
quired of  those  who  are  to  be  both  judge  and  jury.’ 

To  this  must  be  added  the  fact  that  the  accused  has 
no  right  to  set  up  and  develop  his  defense  in  open 
court  as  has  been  referred  to.  We  already  have  a 

* Taken  from  an  unpublished  manuscript  prepared  by  an 
American  who  has  been  a long  resident  of  Korea,  and  who  has 
personally  witnessed  the  workings  of  the  Japanese  legal  ma- 
chinery in  Korea. 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPEESSION  71 


fairly  good  outline  of  the  Japanese  legal  system  in 
Korea.  If  the  whole  system  is  thus  deficient  in  theory, 
what  could  be  expected  in  the  way  of  practical  results.? 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Koreans  look  upon  the  courts 
as  machinery  of  oppression?  The  judicial  power 
given  to  the  police  to  execute  judgments  without  trial 
on  minor  offenses  is  known  as  “ Summary  Judgment." 
The  following  table  will  indicate  the  proportion  of  the 
number  of  cases  handled  by  the  police  in  this  fashion. 

In  1913  there  were  21,483  convictions  without  a 
trial  out  of  36,953. 

In  1914  there  were  32,333  convictions  without  a 
trial  out  of  48,763. 

In  1915  there  were  41,236  convictions  without  a 
trial  out  of  59,436. 

In  1916  there  were  56,013  convictions  without  a 
trial  out  of  81,139. 

The  number  of  those  who  proved  their  innocence  in 
the  years  above  tabulated  were,  respectively,  800,  93, 
47  and  30.  To  quote  from  the  Japanese  official  report 
for  1916-17,  page  126: 

The  total  number  of  criminal  cases  decided  during 
the  year  1916  by  police  summary  judgment  reached 
56,013,  involving  82,121  offenders,  being  an  increase 
of  14,777  cases  and  21,750  offenders  over  those 
of  the  preceding  year.  Of  the  persons  implicated 
in  these  cases,  81,139  were  sentenced,  30  proved  their 
innocence,  and  the  remaining  952  were  pardoned.* 

It  is  evident  that  crime,  or  what  the  Japanese  consider 

* Quoted  by  Senator  George  W.  Norris,  Congressional  Record, 
October  14,  1919. 


72 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


crime,  is  increasing,  and  yet  the  number  of  those  who 
prove  their  innocence  is  correspondingly  decreasing 
under  the  Japanese  legal  system  in  Korea.  That  only 
thirty  proving  their  innocence  out  of  82,121  accused  is 
unparalleled  in  any  other  legal  record  in  the  whole 
world.  Especially  is  it  significant  when  we  consider 
that  the  Korean  people  are  noted  for  their  peaceful  and 
patient  nature,  and  that  Japan  assured  the  outside 
world  that  she  went  into  Korea  with  the  professed  in- 
tention of  uplifting  the  welfare  of  the  Koreans. 

The  secret  torture  during  “ preliminary  examina- 
tions,” and  the  flogging  ministered  by  the  police  as 
means  of  punishment  are  described  in  the  following 
chapters  and  are  omitted  here  in  the  discussion  of  the 
administrative  system.  The  most  powerful  witness 
that  I can  summon  to  my  assistance  to  corroborate  the 
foregoing  statements  is  Bishop  Herbert  Welch,  for- 
merly the  President  of  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
now  the  Resident  Methodist  Bishop  for  Korea  and 
Japan,  at  Seoul,  Korea.  Bishop  Welch’s  close  rela- 
tions with  Japanese  officials  naturally  make  him  very 
conservative  in  his  statements  regarding  what  the 
Japanese  are  doing  in  Korea,  and,  of  course,  he  would 
not  say  anything  over  his  signature  that  could  not  be 
proved  beyond  all  question.  Says  the  Bishop: 

The  judicial  system  prevailing  in  Korea  demands  ex- 
tended discussion  by  itself.  . . . The  Government- 
General,  and,  on  occasion,  the  Governor-General,  may 
issue  laws  and  ordinances  w^hich  become  immediately 
effective.  They  are  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  throne, 
but  are  operative  until  thus  countermanded.  The  estab- 


POLITICAL  AND  JUDICIAL  OPPEESSION  73 


lishment  and  abolition  of  the  courts  are  in  the  hands  of 
the  Governor-General,  who  seems,  on  occasion,  to  di- 
rect what  decisions  shall  be  reached. 

Police  summary  judgment,  as  the  system  is  called,  dis- 
poses of  tens  of  thousands  of  cases  of  minor  offenses 
each  year.  In  the  last  year  for  which  statistics  are  avail- 
able, 82,121  cases  were  handled  by  this  plan,  which  gives 
the  power  of  judgment  to  police  officers  rather  than  to 
any  court.  Of  these,  thirty  persons  proved  their  inno- 
cence, 952  were  pardoned,  and  81,139  were  sentenced. 
A large  proportion  of  these  were  punished  by  flogging. 
The  handicaps  on  the  chance  of  securing  justice  from 
the  Korean  courts  themselves  have  been  enumerated  as 
seven;  first,  arrest  without  due  process  of  law;  second, 
presumption  of  the  guilt  of  any  person  arrested;  third, 
no  right  of  counsel  until  after  the  first  hearing;  fourth, 
secret  investigations  and  torture  by  the  police;  fifth, 
unity  of  action  between  the  procurator,  who  hears  the 
case,  and  the  police;  sixth,  judges  biased  by  the  use  of 
the  written  record  from  the  procurator’s  examination 
before  the  hearing  in  their  own  court  begins;  and  seventh, 
the  power  of  the  judges  to  give  absolute  and  final  deci- 
sion as  to  the  admission  of  any  offered  evidence. 

When  the  various  facts  to  which  I have  thus  briefly 
referred  are  taken  together,  it  becomes  apparent  that  the 
conditions  under  which  Americans  have  been  willing  to 
live  in  war  time  are  very  much  the  conditions  which  pre- 
vail in  Korea  all  the  time;  in  other  words,  that  we  live 
there  under  what  is  practically  martial  law.' 

' “ The  Korean  Independence  Movement  of  1919,”  The  Christian 
Advocate  (New  York),  94: 1006,  August  7,  1919. 


IV 


THE  OFFICIAL  “ PADDLE  ” 

From  the  preceding  chapter  the  reader  will  have 
formed  an  idea  of  the  extraordinary  judicial 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  police.  It  was  also 
noted  that  in  exercising  this  power  “ preliminary  ex- 
aminations,” conducted  before  the  prisoner  is  tried 
at  all,  and  “ summary  judgment,”  rendered  without 
due  process  of  law,  sprang  up  as  by-products  of  the 
system.  Secret  tortures  are  applied  during  “ prelim- 
inary examinations  ” to  compel  the  prisoner  to  make 
statements  that  Japanese  police  call  “ confessions,”  on 
the  strength  of  which  the  prisoner  is  convicted  in  open 
court.  But  this  phase  of  the  Japanese  administration 
will  be  dealt  with  later  in  the  book.  In  this  chapter 
attention  is  called  to  the  infliction  of  corporal  punish- 
ment in  the  form  of  flogging  after  conviction. 

Flogging  is  illegal  in  Japan  proper,  and  it  is  never 
used  to  punish  the  Japanese  subjects  in  Korea.  But 
it  is  reserved  as  a special  favour  for  Korean  prisoners 
— especially  political  prisoners — to  wear  out  the 
morale  of  the  people.  The  Japanese  excuse  in  main- 
taining this  form  of  barbarous  punishment  is  that  it 
was  “ the  old  Korean  custom.”  They  do  not  seem  to 
realize  the  incongruity  of  their  pretexts.  Their  pre- 

74 


THE  OFFICIAL  “ PADDLE 


76 


text  for  annexation  was  to  better  the  condition  of  the 
Korean  people.  Their  publications  and  spokesmen 
proclaim  loudly  all  the  benevolent  reforms  that  have 
been  introduced  in  Korea.  Yet  they  claim  that  they 
are  retaining  flogging,  administered  only  to  the 
Korean,  because  it  was  “ the  old  Korean  custom.” 
In  that  case  they  are  discarding  everything  that  is 
good  and  worth  saving  and  retaining  everything  that 
is  bad  and  barbarous. 

Flogging  was  used  by  the  Korean  courts  in  the  past 
only  in  the  case  of  hardened  criminals,  where  mere 
imprisonment  would  have  little  effect.  The  Koreans 
never  used  the  system  of  fines.  The  theory  was  that 
the  rich  must  pay  the  penalty  and  be  responsible  to 
the  law  as  well  as  the  poor.  If  fines  were  used  as  a 
mode  of  punishment  in  criminal  cases,  the  rich  would 
have  preference  over  the  poor.  The  entire  legal  sys- 
tem in  old  Korea  was  based  on  custom  and  precedents 
similar  to  the  English  Common  Law.  Justice  was 
simple,  and  criminals  were  rare.  Flogging  was  used, 
but  it  was  never  used  on  such  an  extensive  scale  as  at 
present  by  the  Japanese,  nor  to  such  a severe  degree. 
Indeed,  flogging  in  the  old  Korean  court,  compared 
with  the  present  day  Japanese  flogging  in  Korea,  was 
like  a mild  rash  to  cholera.  The  nature  of  the  flogging 
administered  by  the  Japanese  police  can  better  be  as- 
certained by  reading  the  following  description  given 
by  Dr.  Frank  W.  Schofield,  a Canadian  medical  mis- 
sionary to  Korea,  who  has  made  an  extensive  investi- 
gation of  the  system  and  its  effect  upon  Korean  vic- 
tims. 


76 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


The  methods  employed  by  the  Japanese  in  dealing  with 
the,  Korean  agitators  have  not  only  been  severe,  but  un- 
necessarily brutal  and  barbarous.  Their  object  has 
been  to  terrorize,  and  this  has  been  well  accomplished- 
I was  talking  to  a bright  young  lady  this  morning,  a 
school-teacher.  She  told  me  how  she  had  been  thrown 
to  the  ground  by  her  hair,  kicked  all  over  and  then  tied 
to  a tree  from  10:30  in  the  morning  to  sundown — all  for 
calling  ManseV  This  by  a supposedly  educated  Japa- 
nese gendarme ! I saw  an  old  man  two  days  ago  whose 
three  sons  and  three  grandsons  were  taken  out  of  his 
house,  tied  in  a row  and  then  bayoneted  to  death  for 
shouting,  “ Long  Live  Korea.”  He  begged  the  soldiers 
to  kill  him,  but  they  refused.  He  is  now  going  insane. 
Think  of  it ! The  youngest  grandson  was  only  fifteen 
years  old.  But  these  are  the  methods  employed  by  mili- 
taristic Japan  in  maintaining  law  and  order  amongst  an 
unarmed  people.  I saw  a schoolgirl  who  had  a sword 
cut  on  her  back ; she  had  been  attacked  by  a high  officer. 
I have  seen  a boy  whose  leg  was  burnt  with  hot  irons 
to  make  him  give  information,  and  a man  who  was  hung 
up  by  one  finger  to  the  ceiling  for  the  same  purpose. 
Two  women  were  killed;  one  shot  and  the  other  sabred 
because  the  officer  said  they  were  stubborn  and  would 
not  obey  orders.  Their  orders  were  to  go  home  while 
the  Japanese  troops  murdered  their  husbands. 

But  I am  going  to  tell  you  about  something  else — 
police  beatings ; eleven  thousand  people  have  been  beaten 
by  the  police  since  this  movement  for  Independence. 
First,  let  us  clearly  understand  what  is  meant  by  the 
term  “police  beating.”  The  instrument  of  beating  is  a 
special  bamboo  rod,  made  by  tightly  tying  together  with 
hemp  twine  a number  (two  or  more)  of  bamboo  strips; 
this  gives  the  necessary  flexibility,  when  bruising  and  not 

’ Mansei  was  the  old  national  battle  crj’ — " May  Korea  Live 
Ten  Thousand  Years.” 


•J^.s 

^ 4) 

C;  ^ 

s 


OjJ  >> 

c « 
►^  « S3 
S 

>•2  o. 

C^  t-  rt 
c*— > 

£is 


mi3  6 

S ■^'n 
c/;-^  aJ  £■ 


W c S;  ‘ 
E ' 

H v.-g  c 

o ! 

•Z. 

< 


U-i  c 

O O 


o i 


Q 

J » 
O c 
W S 


THE  OFFICIAL  “PADDLE” 


77 


breaking  the  tissues  is  desired.  The  form  or  rack  used 
in  beating  is  made  something  like  a cross,  so  that  the  out- 
spread arms  of  the  criminal  can  be  tightly  secured.  The 
trunk  and  legs  are  also  fastened  in  a way  which  makes 
motion  impossible.  The  individual  to  be  beaten  is  firmly 
secured  on  the  cross;  the  clothes  removed  from  the 
region  of  the  buttocks,  and  the  rod  laid  on  according  to 
the  strength  of  the  men  who  administer  the  punishment. 
Before  such  a procedure,  there  is  supposed  to  be  an  ex- 
amination of  the  patient  by  the  police  doctor,  but  this 
does  not  often  happen. 

Let  me  recite  to  you  the  story  of  Mr.  Sur — just  as  he 
gave  it  to  me.  Take  time  reading  it.  Try  and  pass 
through  his  experience;  then  coolly  make  your  decision 
— civilized  or  uncivilized? 

The  Demonstration:  “I  am  a native  of  Kangkei,  a 
small  town  amongst  the  mountains,  and  being  so  far 
away  from  the  town  where  demonstrations  for  Inde- 
pendence had  occurred,  we  were  late  in  starting.  How- 
ever, we  planned  for  a real  good  demonstration  on  April 
the  8th.  We  had  given  out  circulars,  and  had  made  all 
arrangements;  then  at  the  given  time  from  one  end  of 
the  town  to  the  other  all  shouted,  ‘ Long  Live  Korea.’ 
We  had  no  weapons,  sticks  or  stones,  but  the  police,  with- 
out any  warning,  opened  fire  on  us,  killing  four  and 
wounding  eight.  This  violent  attack  scattered  us,  and 
ended  the  demonstration.  Two  women  were  down  by 
the  river  washing  after  this  had  happened,  when  two 
soldiers  walking  past,  without  provocation,  fired;  the 
younger  woman  was  shot  through  the  head,  the  second 
shot  whizzed  past  the  ear  of  the  other  woman  and  scared 
her  badly.  The  soldiers  did  not  fire  any  more  but  went 
away. 

Arrest  and  Beating:  “ On  April  22nd  I was  arrested, 
and  after  being  kept  some  days  in  jail,  was  sent  on  to 
New  Weiju  with  ten  other  young  men.  We  had  our 


78 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


trial  at  Weiju  on  May  4th,  and  were  all  recommended 
to  get  six  months’  imprisonment.  On  May  iith  we  re- 
ceived our  sentence,  which  had  been  altered  to  a police 
beating  of  ninety  blows.  Thirty  blows  were  to  be  given 
on  three  successive  days.  Realizing  what  this  meant  we 
all  appealed,  but  were  told  that  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  an  appeal  from  a police  beating ; that  we  must  take  it, 
and  we  would  soon  be  home  again.  Our  remonstrance 
was  useless ; we  had  to  submit  and  were  made  to  put  our 
finger  prints  to  a document,  saying  that  we  were  satisfied 
with  our  sentence  and  were  justly  punished. 

“ Beatings  were  given  on  May  i6th,  17th  and  i8th — 
thirty  strokes  on  each  day.  The  policemen  beat  us  up  to 
the  limit  of  their  strength.  They  would  lift  up  the  foot, 
and  leaning  well  back,  would  bring  the  cane  down  with 
tremendous  force.  Frequently,  three  policemen  would 
administer  the  punishment.  One  man  would  give  ten 
strokes,  then  another,  and  finally,  a third  would  admin- 
ister the  last  ten.  The  pain  was  terrible,  especially  the 
last  two  beatings.  Blood  was  drawn  at  the  first  beating, 
and  yet  we  knew  that  we  had  more  to  come.  The  ex- 
pectation was  in  itself  terrible,  apart  from  the  physical 
suffering.  After  the  second  beating  our  flesh  was  like 
jelly,  and  pain  on  receiving  the  last  thirty  strokes  was 
frightful.  On  Alay  i8th  we  were  given  the  last  beating 
and  were  turned  loose.  We  could  hardly  walk,  but  finally 
managed  to  get  to  a cheap  boarding  house.  There  is  a 
Japanese  hospital  in  town,  but  we  would  just  as  soon 
go  back  to  jail  as  to  go  there.  We  were  not  allowed  to 
go  to  the  Danish  Hospital,  as  this  was  across  the  river 
at  Antung  in  China.  I went  out  and  brought  some 
Korean  medicine  which  we  used,  but  with  no  success. 
Six  of  the  boys  seemed  to  be  seriously  ill ; they  could  not 
eat,  could  hardly  stand,  and  were  suffering  most  terribly. 
On  the  afternoon  of  May  22nd,  we  decided  that  we  would 
go  to  the  Mission  Hospital  at  Syen  Chun,  some  two 


THE  OFFICIAL  “PADDLE” 


79 


hours’  ride  on  the  train.  I could  walk  fairly  well,  but 
some  of  the  others  were  in  a terrible  condition,  so  with 
two  of  the  stronger  men,  we  three  brought  the  six  very 
sick  men  down  to  the  hospital.  They  had  great  difficulty 
in  getting  on  the  train,  and  of  course,  could  not  sit  down, 
but  had  to  lie  along  the  seat.  Arriving  at  Syen  Chun,  we 
got  the  men  off  the  train,  and  on  wagons  brought  them 
up  to  the  hospital.” 

This  is  briefly  the  story  of  the  lad  given  to  me  on  May 
25th.  I will  continue  the  story  of  these  cases  from  the 
statement  of  those  who  nursed  them  at  the  hospital. 

Nurses’  Statement:  Mr.  Pak — “he  was  a young  man  of 
twenty-one,  a graduate  of  the  Kangai  Middle  School 
and  had  been  employed  as  language  teacher  to  a newly 
arrived  missionary.  He  was  never  a very  strong  man — 
slender  in  form  and  delicate,  but  mentally  bright.  We 
operated  on  him  early  May  23rd,  removing  large  pieces 
of  gangrenous  tissue.  Peritonitis  had  already  set  in,  and 
he  passed  away  in  g^eat  pain  about  twelve  o’clock  the 
same  day.  The  greater  part  of  the  buttocks  had  become 
gangrenous.  Death  was  due  to  septic  peritonitis  and 
exhaustion  from  excessive  pain.” 

Mr.  Kim — “ he,  also,  was  from  Kangkei,  a well  put  to- 
gether husky  young  man  of  nineteen  years.  He  was  in 
terrible  pain,  groaning  constantly.  The  operation 
seemed  to  help  him  quite  a little,  and  he  begged  to  be 
operated  on  again.  His  buttocks  were  frightfully  in- 
fected, and  much  dead  tissue  had  to  be  removed.  While 
coming  out  of  the  anaesthetic,  he  constantly  shouted, 
‘ Long  Live  Korea,’  ‘ Long  Live  Korea.’  At  times  he 
seemed  to  be  better,  but  peritonitis  developed,  and  on 
Sunday,  May  25th,  he  died.  His  brother,  who  had  been 
summoned,  arrived  a few  hours  before  he  passed  away. 
On  seeing  his  brother,  he  called  out,  ‘ I shall  get  well 
now  that  you  have  come;  let’s  have  a talk.’  Constantly 
during  the  afternoon  he  would  bite  at  the  tips  of  his 


80 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


fingers.  I did  not  know  for  what  reason,  and,  of  course, 
pulled  his  hand  away  from  his  mouth.  Just  before  he 
died,  he  again  made  a great  effort  and  managed  to  get 
his  little  finger  into  his  mouth  but  had  not  the  strength 
to  bite.  He  looked  at  me  so  anxiously,  but  I could  not 
think  what  he  wanted,  so  offered  him  a sip  of  water 
which  he  refused.  He  whispered,  ‘ I don’t  mind  dying, 
but  I had  hoped  to  see  my  country  free  first.’  Then  an 
elder,  who  was  standing  near,  prayed  and  asked  him  if 
he  knew  Jesus,  to  which  he  said,  ‘ Yes,’  then  closing  his 
eyes  he  passed  away;  I afterwards  found  that  he  was 
trying  to  bite  off  the  tip  of  his  little  finger,  so  that  he 
could  write  the  oath  of  Independence  in  his  own  blood  as 
many  a patriot  had  done.” 

A Japanese  police  doctor  saw  the  corpse  and  remarked, 
“ They  should  have  known  that  a man  like  this  (Mr. 
Pak)  could  not  have  borne  such  punishment.”  He  also 
warned  the  doctor  in  charge  not  to  state  in  the  death 
certificate  that  he  had  been  beaten  to  death,  but  to  say 
he  had  died  of  peritonitis. 

The  jailer  at  New  Weiju  was  most  annoyed  when  he 
heard  that  the  boys  had  gone  to  a Mission  Hospital,  es- 
pecially when  two  had  died.  He  said  that  they  could 
not  have  died  of  the  beating.  It  must  have  been  the  op- 
eration. 

The  boys  were  buried  together  the  following  morning. 
The  crowd  of  people  sobbed  with  grief,  and  although 
overcome,  it  was  all  they  could  do  to  stop  shouting  once 
more,  “ Long  Live  Korea.”  A Korean  flag  was  secretly 
placed  upon  the  coffin,  so  after  all  they  were  buried  like 
Korean  patriots. 

The  world  would  never  have  known  about  these  lads 
had  they  not  gone  to  an  American  hospital.  God  only 
knows  the  hundreds  who  have  been  beaten,  shot  and 
bayoneted,  to  crawl  home  and  die  unattended  and  un- 
known. Is  there  no  Japanese  Red  Cross,  you  ask?  Oh 


THE  OFFICIAL  “ PADDLE  ” 


81 


yes,  we  read  of  its  activities  sometimes  in  the  local  press, 
but  its  presence  is  only  camouflage.  Except  in  the  case 
of  Suwon,  I never  heard  of  its  helping  any  poor  Korean. 
These  Christian  boys  are  shot  to  be  killed,  not  to  be 
succoured  and  nursed  back  to  health. 

The  Beaten  Boys:  I went  to  see  and  photograph  the  re- 
maining four  who  from  the  first  had  been  so  sick.  They 
presented  an  awful  sight;  their  backs  were  raw  and 
bleeding;  large  areas  of  the  skin  and  underlying  tissue 
had  sloughed  away.  Every  time  the  nurse  touched  the 
raw  surface,  the  exposed  muscle  fibres  twitched,  and  the 
poor  fellows  groaned  in  agony.  The  doctors  held  out 
hope  for  three  of  them,  but  the  fourth  was  awfully  sick; 
peritonitis  was  evident,  and  he  being  a weak  lad,  had 
little  chance  to  fight  his  way  through.  You  ask  if  beat- 
ings like  this  are  common.  Well,  since  the  agitation  for 
Independence,  there  have  been  eleven  thousand  people 
beaten.  At  first  the  authorities  gave  them  only  twenty  or 
thirty  blows  each,  but  recently  many  have  been  receiv- 
ing thirty  blows  in  each  of  the  three  successive  days. 

My  God!  What  pain  and  suffering  these  people  do 
endure  at  the  hands  of  their  barbarous  overlords.  The 
skinned  slaves  of  bygone  days  were  happy  compared 
to  these  people.  They  were  born  into  slavery  and  ex- 
pected nothing  better,  but  these  poor  folks  were  born 
free,  only  to  find  themselves  enslaved  in  an  Egyptian 
bondage. 

I have  spoken  to  many  educated  and  respectable  Japa- 
nese about  these  brutal  beatings  and  as  to  why  it  is  not 
done  to  Japanese,  and  why  it  is  continued  in  this  day 
when  humanitarian  principles  govern  more  and  more 
the  acts  of  people?  The  answer  is  always  the  same,  “Oh, 
don’t  you  know  it  is  an  old  Korean  custom?”  I asked 
how  they  would  like  the  Government  of  Japan  to  revert 
to  some  old  Japanese  customs  in  governing  their  people? 
Such  questions,  they  reply,  are  foolish.  Japan  does  not 


82 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


do  wrong,  and  if  you  think  she  does,  you  are  anti-Japa- 
nese ; you  are  a wicked  alarmist. 

The  truth  is  this;  the  militaristic  Japanese  are  still 
uncivilized  and  barbarous  at  heart,  and  so  one  constantly 
sees  his  real  brutal,  naked  self  appearing. 

In  this  manner  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Koreans 
have  been  flogged.  An  American  resident  of  Korea, 
who  is  a close  student  of  the  Korean  situation,  writes: 

In  the  Government  report  for  1913,  the  number  of  per- 
sons flogged  after  police  trial  is  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
number  of  persons  put  on  trial.  This  item  has  not  been 
published  since,  but  using  that  as  a basis  for  estimating 
the  total  number  flogged  by  the  police  as  a punishment 
for  crime  from  1913-1918  would  be  294,000  persons,  or 
about  one  to  every  fifty-nine  Koreans  in  the  land,  includ- 
ing men,  women  and  children.  The  courts  also  sentence 
to  corporal  punishment,  but  no  statistics  available,  this 
number  cannot  be  ascertained. 

This  estimate  of  the  American  resident  in  Korea  is 
not  far  from  actual  facts.  It  is  my  information  that, 
from  January  1,  1913,  to  July  1,  1920,  the  so-called 
“ convictions  ” of  Koreans  by  the  Japanese  courts  and 
by  the  “ summary  judgment  ” of  the  police,  were 
616,839,  or  one  Korean  in  each  thirty.  The  sentence 
of  flogging  was  pronounced  and  administered  to  278,- 
087,  or  one  Korean  in  each  sixty-six.  This  is  the 
“ Record  ” made  by  Japanese.  If  we  add,  as  we  must, 
the  thousands  who  have  been  flogged  “ unofficially  ” 
and  with  no  record  made,  the  estimate  of  the  Ameri- 
can resident  from  which  I have  quoted  is  no  doubt 
very  conser\’ative. 


THE  OFFICIAL  “PADDLE” 


83 


From  March  1,  1919,  when  the  “Mansei”  demon- 
strations began  for  the  Independence  Movement  to 
July  20  of  the  same  year,  the  number  flogged  by  order 
of  the  gendarmes  at  “summary  judgment”  is  9,078, 
and  that  by  order  of  the  court,  1,514,  making  a total 
of  10,592.  An  editorial  in  Japan  Weekly  Chronicle, 
“ The  ‘ Paddle  ’ in  Korea,”  makes  an  amazing  reve- 
lation of  the  Japanese  practices  in  the  Hermit  King- 
dom: 

We  have  hitherto  seen  no  reference  in  the  Japanese 
press,  for  instance,  to  the  subject  of  flogging,  but  we  are 
glad  to  see  that  the  Seoul  Press  has  admitted  to  its  col- 
umns a letter  on  this  subject  from  a foreign  resident  in 
Korea,  and,  while  the  editor  mildly  deprecates  the 
charge  of  cruelty  made,  he  expresses  agreement  with  the 
desire  to  see  this  form  of  punishment  abolished.  It  is 
one  of  the  official  assumptions  in  Japan  that  the  Japa- 
nese have  a g^eat  sense  of  personal  dignity.  As  an  ob- 
servant traveller  once  said,  “ There  is  no  false  modesty 
in  Japan,  but  a terrible  lot  of  false  dignity.”  False  or 
not,  it  is  undoubtedly  there,  and  we  are  told  that  the 
exclusion  of  flogging  from  the  penal  code  is  out  of  re- 
spect to  this  sense  of  dignity.  It  appears,  however,  that 
the  Korean  has  no  sense  of  dignity — at  least,  it  is  not 
respected,  though  General  Hasegawa  lately  declared  that 
it  was  only  in  matters  of  temporary  administrative  neces- 
sity that  there  is  any  difference  recognized  between 
Koreans  and  Japanese.  It  seems  a fairly  effective  kind 
of  racial  discrimination.  It  was  apparent  to  General 
Hasegawa  that  the  writer  of  the  complaint  in  the  Seoul 
Press  addressed  an  inquiry  as  to  why  this  barbarous 
method  of  punishment  was  still  used  in  Korea,  and  he 
received,  through  an  interpreter,  the  reply,  “ Flogging 
is  an  old  Korean  punishment  which  we,  like  yourself. 


84 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


who  are  educated,  look  upon  as  a barbarous  method  of 
punishment,  but  if  we  were  to  immediately  do  away  with 
such  a custom,  it  would  cause  a great  deal  of  trouble 
and  discontent  amongst  the  Korean  people.  You  must 
remember  that  we  can  govern  only  in  accordance  with 
the  will  and  desire  of  those  whom  we  govern,” 

A statement  like  this  invites  a good  deal  of  comment. 
One  is  tempted  to  ask  whether  it  is  the  will  and  desire 
of  the  people  that  those  who  had  been  in  the  enjoyment 
of  occupancy  of  Crown  lands  for  many  generations 
should  be  expropriated  without  compensation ; whether  it 
is  the  will  and  desire  of  the  Koreans  that  they  be  for- 
bidden to  start  any  joint-stock  enterprise  without  Japa- 
nese partnership  directing  it;  whether  they  love  to  be 
regulated  in  all  sorts  of  details  of  their  personal  lives 
and  livelihood  on  a rigid  Japanese  plan  instead  of  the 
free  and  easy  plan  which  they  prefer  and  understand, 
but  which  the  Japanese  police  do  not  like.  Do  they  like 
being  compelled  to  learn  Japanese  and  being  forbidden 
to  travel  abroad?  In  these  and  a hundred  other  mat- 
ters the  administration  has  shown  not  the  slightest  desire 
to  consider  the  wishes  or  even  the  rights  of  the  people, 
but  we  are  told  that  the  people  so  like  being  flogged  by 
a Japanese  jailer  with  a barbarous  weapon  that  the  sys- 
tem cannot  be  abolished.  This  is  perfectly  well  under- 
stood by  those  who  devised  this  abominable  punishment 
— or,  if  it  is  not,  they  ought  to  try  it  for  themselves. 
And  again,  the  authorities  who  profess  to  mitigate  the 
severity  of  the  punishment  by  converting  it  into  an  ex- 
quisite torture — with  tortures  of  suspense  and  anticipa- 
tion between — also  refuse  to  believe  that  men  have  died 
as  a result  of  it. 

But  enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  foolish  is  the 
policy  pursued,  and  how  entirely  unfit  are  the  men  in 
authority  to  pursue  the  task  of  reconciling  the  people  to 


THE  OFFICIAL  “PADDLE” 


85 


a change  which  was  forced  upon  them.  The  military  ad- 
ministrators seem  utterly  unable  to  conceive  that  the 
people  for  whose  welfare  they  are  responsible  have  any 
feelings  at  all,  and  they  apparently  fancy  that  everything 
that  is  right  to  their  military  minds  must,  also,  appear 
right  to  the  Koreans  unless  they  are  willfully  recalcitrant. 
Their  very  excuses  in  this  matter  of  flogging — that  the 
Koreans  insist  upon  having  it,  that  to  prolong  the  agony 
mitigates  it,  that  it  is  only  fatal  if  the  victims  of  it  are 
so  foolish  as  to  employ  a Korean  doctor  to  treat  their 
wounds — show  that  they  are  incompetent  to  perform  the 
task  with  which  they  are  entrusted.  But  it  must  be 
understood  that  the  mere  appointment  of  a civilian  in- 
stead of  a soldier  is  not  enough.  A civilian  with  irre- 
sponsible powers  and  soldiers  at  his  beck  and  call  may 
conceivably  be  worse  than  a man  who  has  had  experi- 
ence of  war. 


V 


PRISONS  AND  PRISON  TORTURES 

IF  there  ever  were  a place  on  earth  that  could  be 
called  hell,  it  is  the  Japanese  prison  in  Korea. 
When  John  Bunyan  wrote  his  Pilgrim’ s Progress 
two  hundred  and  forty-six  years  ago,  he  did  not  know 
that  he  was,  in  his  description  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Faithful,  prophesying  the  fate  of  the  Korean  political 
prisoners  at  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  torturers  in  the 
twentieth  century.  The  horrors  and  atrocities  being 
committed  by  the  Japanese  officials  are  beyond  belief, 
and  their  counterpart  is  found  nowhere  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  The  most  tortuous  period  of  the  Czarist 
Russia  never  witnessed  their  equal.  The  Mediaeval 
Inquisition  was  terrible,  but  it  did  not  embody  that 
scientific  cruelty  which  the  Japanese  prison  torturers 
in  Korea  employ,  especially  in  dealing  with  political 
prisoners. 

After  a man  has  been  arrested  he  is  not  permitted 
to  see  his  friends  or  relatives  or  consult  a,  lawyer  until 
he  is  brought  before  the  judge  for  trial.  He  may  be 
kept  indefinitely  in  prison  and  released  without  trial. 
During  the  confinement  the  prisoner  is  compelled  to 
go  through  what  is  known  as  “ preliminary  examina- 
tions.” This  Japanized  “ third  degree  ” is  illegal  in 

86 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


87 


Japan  proper,  nor  is  it  practised  on  Japanese  prisoners 
in  Korea,  but  it  is  reserved  for  Korean  prisoners,  es- 
pecially political  prisoners,  as  a special  favour.  During 
the  “ preliminary  examinations,”  unspeakable  tortures 
are  inflicted  upon  the  prisoners,  not  by  way  of  punish- 
ment after  conviction,  but  in  order  to  extract  evidence 
by  which  to  convict,  which  means  that  the  innocent  are 
tortured  equally  with  the  guilty. 

Men  and  boys  were  trussed  and  suspended  from  the 
ceilings  so  that  their  weight  hung  on  the  shoulders. 
Thus  they  were  raised  and  lowered  till  unconscious. 
They  had  their  fingers  pressed  over  red  hot  wires.  Their 
naked  flesh  was  lacerated  with  sharp  hooks  and  seared 
with  hot  irons.  Toe  nails  were  torn  from  the  flesh  with 
pincers.  Men  were  placed  in  a tight  box  and  then 
screwed  up.  They  were  tied  up,  their  heads  forced  back, 
and  hot  water  or  a solution  of  water  and  red  pepper 
poured  down  their  nostrils.  Slivers  of  wood  were  shoved 
far  under  their  finger  nails.  They  were  flogged  until  they 
had  to  be  taken  to  hospitals,  where  big  slabs  of  gangre- 
nous skin  had  to  be  cut  off.  In  many  cases  they  were 
flogged  to  death.  And  some  kinds  of  tortures  employed 
are  unprintable.  This  was  not  done  once  or  twice,  but  it 
was  done  repeatedly  for  days  and  nights,  hours  at  a time, 
until  the  victim  confessed,  whether  he  had  anything  to 
confess  or  not.  There  are  cases  where  men  have  said 
yes  to  anything,  ignorant  even  of  what  they  had  ad- 
mitted.’ 

Dr.  J.  W.  Hirst,  of  Severance  Hospital  at  Seoul, 
related  to  me  when  he  was  in  America  in  April,  1920, 
that  in  his  hospital  alone,  during  the  year  of  1919, 
they  had  treated  seventy-six  cases  of  gangrene  and 
‘Nathaniel  Peffcr,  The  Truth  About  Korea  (pamphlet),  p.  24. 


88 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


skin  grafting — all  of  whom  were  victims  of  the  “ pre- 
liminary examinations.” 

Seldom,  if  ever,  a man  completely  recovers  from 
the  effects  of  these  tortures;  many  die  in  prison,  and 
still  more  die  after  release.  Those  who  survive  be- 
come cripples  for  life.  The  following  story  of  “ a 
slender,  timid,  Christian  youth,  nineteen  years  old,  em- 
ployed by  a shoemaker,”  charged  with  circulating  the 
Independent  News,  and  forced  through  the  “ prelim- 
inary examination”  at  the  police  station,  illustrates 
the  fate  of  thousands  of  other  prisoners.  This  story, 
as  told  by  an  American  missionary,  who  is  an  eye 
witness,  was  made  public  along  with  other  incidents 
at  the  New  York  Headquarters  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America,  on  July  12,  1919,  with  the  com- 
ment that: 

What  is  reported  here  can  be  duplicated  in  scores  of 
places  in  Korea,  and  some  of  the  reports  thus  far  re- 
ceived are  even  more  harrowing  than  the  ones  we  re- 
port. But,  as  they  have  not  been  definitely  established 
by  competent  witnesses,  we  omit  them,  but  confine  our- 
selves strictly  to  incidents  which  are  known  beyond  the 
shadow  of  a doubt  to  be  true. 

The  Missionary’s  Testimony 

“ Word  came  to  me  soon  after  this  that  our  shoe  boy 
had  been  frightfully  beaten  and  would  die.  ...  I 
went  to  see  him  yesterday  at  the  hospital. 

“ The  only  reasons  which  can  account  for  his  being 
there  are  either  that  the  police  did  not  want  him  to  die 
on  their  hands  or  wanted  to  prolong  his  torture,  for  he 
is  miraculously  recovering.  I entered  by  the  main  office. 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


89 


presented  my  card,  and  was  shown  to  his  room  without 
any  police  interference,  at  which  I was  greatly  surprised. 
I went  in  and  saw  a very  sallow,  sick  boy — what  must  he 
have  looked  like  five  weeks  before?  , . . 

“ The  following  is  his  story.  ...  It  certainly  is  a 
miracle  that  he  is  living.  On  the  day  following  his  ar- 
rest he  was  questioned  about  complicity  with  the  Korean 
Independence  Movement.  On  refusal  to  reveal  aught  of 
the  affair  he  was  subjected  to  six  hours  of  ‘ examina- 
tion ’ spelling  constant  torture,  for  his  arms  were  put 
into  rings  above  the  elbows  until  the  upper  body  was 
greatly  distorted — the  usual  preparation  for  beating. 
Beating  and  kicking  were  then  administered  until  he 
fell  fainting  to  the  ground.  He  was  given  cold  water  to 
drink,  and  water  was  poured  over  his  body  to  bring  him 
to  consciousness.  Then  more  questions  were  plied,  but 
the  same  refusal  to  reveal  facts  followed.  Then  physical 
collapse. 

“ I saw  one  sear  on  the  upper  part  of  the  leg.  It  had 
been  seared  some  five  inches  in  length  with  a red  hot 
iron.  Of  these  he  bears  four.  I saw  the  dead  skin  line 
of  the  welts  that  had  been  raised  by  blows  on  his  hands. 
One  hand,  he  said,  had  been  swollen  to  twice  its  normal 
size.  Two  joints  of  one  finger  and  two  finger  ends 
showed  plainly  the  tale  was  all  too  true.  His  head  is  still 
sore  from  the  blows  received. 

“ Shortly,  the  doctor  called  on  his  regular  rounds  and 
seemed  to  take  g^eat  pains  in  examining  him.  Turning 
to  me,  he  said  his  chest  and  lungs  were  better.  Was  it  ex- 
posure to  cold  that  made  his  chest  sore?  No.  He  pulled 
his  clothing  down  to  examine  further,  and  I saw  that  his 
whole  abdominal  region  had  been  involved.  A wound 
— whether  by  bayonet  thrust  or  doctor’s  incision  I do 
not  know — seemed  to  be  healing.  The  doctor  began  by 
pressing,  but  after  thirty-three  days  this  boy  was  unable 
to  endure  even  a slight  touch  from  chest  to  groin  and 


90 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


from  hip  to  hip.  An  ice  bag  was  at  his  head  for  fever, 
body  was  quite  wasted  to  the  bone,  and  he  was  able  only 
just  to  raise  himself  to  a sitting  posture. 

“ During  the  four  days  of  torture  and  the  subsequent 
two  days  of  suffering  at  the  police  station  a physician 
had  been  admitted  to  see  him  only  three  times.  He  was 
expecting  to  die  and  begged  them  to  kill  him.  But  God 
had  another  plan.  After  twenty  days  in  the  hospital  he 
has  hopes  of  recovery. 

“ I rode  in  a ricksha,  as  I had  little  time,  and  delivered 
him  some  eggs,  apples,  milk  powder,  a clean  cover  for  his 
pillow  and  clothes.  The  transformation  was  wonderful, 
for  the  clothes  he  had  on  had  the  marks  of  his  experi- 
ences from  the  first.  A Korean  nurse  was  in  attendance 
during  the  visit ; the  reason  I understood  later. 

“ His  soiled  clothes  were  rolled  up  ready  to  take  along. 
We  had  prayer,  and  I rose  and  was  leaving  the  room 
when  a coolie  confronted  us  outside  the  door.  He  spoke 
to  the  sick  boy  and  said,  ‘ You  must  wait ; you  must  not 
go.’  About  me  he  said  I should  go  to  see  somebody. 
Imagine,  please,  what  they  were  ti-ying  to  work  up  against 
me — that  I was  trying  to  get  the  boy  away  in  my  ricksha. 
I was  in  for  arrest. 

“ He  calmly  strode  into  the  main  office.  Over  a half 
hour  elapsed  ere  anything  happened.  Imagine  my  ter- 
rible plight ! I had  purchased  fish  for  dinner,  and  guests 
were  expected.  There  really  was  little  time  to  spare. 
However,  I dispatched  a woman  with  the  fish  and  a note, 
and  sat  down  to  wait  in  patience.  For  the  last  thing  to 
do  in  the  Orient  is  to  get  flustered. 

" I certainly  was  the  object  of  much  attention.  I won- 
dered how  many  soldiers  would  come  to  take  me  away, 
and  whether  they  would  let  me  ride  or  make  we  walk. 
Finally,  my  amused  meditations  were  broken,  not  by 
khaki-clad,  armed  soldiers,  but  by  a plain  clothes  Japa- 
nese detective,  who  had  come  in  to  interview  me.  I told 


PEISONS  AND  PRISON  TOETUEES 


91 


him  all  that  I knew,  and  he  was  exceedingly  mild  towards 
me,  when  I tell  you  he  was  the  one  who  at  the  police  sta- 
tion almost  tortured  our  shoe  boy  to  death.  He  is  the 
acknowledged  spy  on  all  foreigners  and  the  official  tor- 
turer of  our  schoolboys. 

“ The  interview  was  brief ; he  saying  that  the  sick  boy 
was  yet  a prisoner  and  that  hereafter,  if  I wished  to  visit 
him,  I must  first  apply  to  the  police  for  permission.  It 
was  like  thin  ice,  seeing  how  far  I could  go  without 
breaking  through.  I was  really  disappointed,  for  I 
thought  I was  going  to  get  inside  the  jail  for  sure.  A 
community  ’phone  call  had  been  sounded,  announcing 
that  I was  missing,  and  a member  of  the  legal  committee 
was  about  to  set  out  for  the  police  station  when  I re- 
turned. 

“ We  foreigners  enjoy  little  freedom,  nor  are  we  safe 
under  the  present  Japan  and  United  States  agree- 
ments. . . . 

“ This  case  is  not  an  isolated  one.  Scores,  hundreds, 
of  similar  cases  could  be  cited  and  fully  substantiated. 
Every  police  station  is  a veritable  hell  on  earth.  Every 
human  refinement  in  brutality  is  known  there,  and  such 
brutality  is  perpetrated  as  would  blister  the  tongue  to 
utter.  Men  are  known  to  have  been  beaten  to  death,  and 
their  bodies  handed  over  to  their  relatives  to  bury.  Others 
have  been  beaten  until  crippled  for  life,  and  then  re- 
leased, to  be  a burden  on  their  families  until  the  day  of 
their  death.  . . . 

“ Note  that  the  shoe  boy  had  been  in  the  hospital 
thirty-three  days  already  when  the  interview  was  held. 
When  will  he  be  ready  for  trial?  Still,  it  is  understood 
that  he  is  to  receive  nine  months  in  the  penitentiary. 
This  was  practically  decided  by  the  police  officers  even 
before  he  was  brought  to  trial.  The  court  simply  goes 
through  the  form  of  trying  him,  and  sentences  him  as  the 
police  have  suggested. 


92 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


“ Occasionally,  instead  of  imprisoning  the  men,  they 
are  let  off  with  only  ninety  blows  of  the  bamboo  rod;  and 
that  this  is  no  light  matter  you  may  well  irnagine.  No 
man  could  endure  it  all  at  once,  so  the  ninety  blows  are 
administered  thirty  per  day  for  three  successive  days.  A 
large  number  of  cases  now  coming  to  the  private  hos- 
pitals are  of  men  who  have  been  thus  beaten  until  they 
are  nearly  done  for. 

“All  this  in  a land  which  boasts  before  the  world  of  its 
thoroughly  acquired  modern  civilization,  an  associate  of 
the  great  allied  nations  of  the  world.  . . . When 

will  such  mockery  as  this  end  and  men  be  called  what 
they  really  are  ? ” ^ 

But  by  far  the  worst  feature  of  the  Japanese  prison 
system  in  Korea — something  for  which  the  Koreans 
will  never  forgive  the  Japanese — is  the  treatment  of 
women.  Refined  and  cultured  Christian  young 
women,  many  of  them  college  graduates,  were  dragged 
into  prison  on  the  charge  either  of  being  members  of 
the  Women’s  Patriotic  League  or  of  cheering  for  Ko- 
rean freedom,  and  were  subjected  to  unspeakable  in- 
sults and  indignities.  The  following  signed  statement 
by  an  American  resident  in  Korea,  dated  April  22, 
1919,  made  public  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America,  referred  to  above,  speaks  for  itself: 

“ The  examination  of  women,  who  have  been  arrested 
for  activity  in  the  Independence  Movement,  is  the  most 
disgraceful  and  humiliating  possible.  It  will  have  to  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  Japanese  feel  no  shame 
when  nude  in  the  presence  of  the  other  sex.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Korean  and  Chinese  women  have  the  same 

'New  York  Times,  July  13,  1919. 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


93 


feeling  of  delicacy  as  Europeans.  They  feel  intense 
shame  when  seen  by  another. 

“ The  Japanese  know  this,  and  so,  when  they  put  the 
Korean  women  in  the  question  box — this,  mind  you,  is 
before  they  are  condemned  at  all — they  are  stripped  ab- 
solutely naked.  They  are  stripped,  not  after  they  go  to 
the  room  where  they  are  questioned,  but  in  their  rooms 
of  confinement,  and  that  by  gendarmes. 

“ From  here  they  have  to  walk  across  an  open  court 
where  they  can  be  seen  by  any  one  who  pleases.  Some- 
times they  are  accompanied  by  a Japanese  female,  and 
sometimes  not.  It  might  also  be  said  that  each  time  they 
wash  they  have  to  take  off  the  thin  kimono  which  they 
wear  in  prison  and  stand  naked  before  others  while 
washing. 

“ Their  arraignment  is  before  men,  of  course,  and  the 
chief  part  of  the  examination  is  to  make  the  pain  of  the 
humiliation  just  as  intense  as  possible.  Unmarried  girls, 
as  well  as  Bible  women  who  have  lived  in  homes  of  re- 
finement and  who  have  been  used  to  nothing  else  than  the 
courtesies  due  their  sex,  are  thus  outrageously  treated. 
They  are  called  bad  women  in  the  most  revolting  terms 
just  because  they  have  shouted  in  the  street:  ‘Hurrah 
for  Korea ! ’ 

“ Some  women,  who  tried  to  cover  themselves,  had 
their  hands  tied  behind  them.  One  Bible  woman  had  her 
arm  wrenched  out  of  its  socket  by  this  process.  . . . 

“ But  this  is  not  all.  Some  were  kicked  in  the  stomach 
and  otherwise  roughly  treated  by  these  fiendish  men. 
Some  of  us  have  heard  terrible  tales  about  the  German 
treatment  of  women  in  Belgium  and  France,  and,  though 
the  awful  depths  have  not  yet  been  reached  here,  we  see 
the  training  of  the  same  school. 

“ In  one  section  of  the  country  the  women  are  not 
safe  in  their  homes  during  the  day.  They  spend  the  day- 
time in  the  hills,  and  come  to  their  homes  only  at  night. 


94 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


“ The  Japanese  are  great  sticklers  for  the  truth  when  it 
comes  from  others.  So  let  others  read  and  understand. 
We  have  here  sworn  statements  from  women  thus  treated 
which  can  be  produced  when  needed.” 

Girls  from  Christian  colleges  fared  the  worst,  and 
many  of  the  girl  prisoners  were  released  without  trial 
after  indecent  grilling.  They  made  sworn  statements 
to  their  American  teachers  and  missionary  friends. 
These  independent  statements  are  all  similar  tales.  In 
the  summer  of  1919  at  the  Methodist  Centenary  Cele- 
bration at  Columbus,  Ohio,  a returned  missionary 
showed  me  six  such  testimonies  collected  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country  from  witnesses  who  had  never 
seen  each  other  before.  They  make  one’s  blood  boil. 
“ Were  the  conditions  as  they  actually  are  to  be  fully 
reported,  the  report  would  be  too  horrible  to  relate,” 
said  my  informant.  The  mass  of  documents  on  the 
Korean  situation,  laid  before  Congress  and  printed  in 
the  Congressional  Record,  July  17,  1919,  touches  this 
phase  of  the  conditions  in  Korea.  I have  selected  two 
statements  from  that  issue  of  the  Record,  made  by  girl 
prisoners — one  in  Seoul  and  the  other  in  Pyeng  Yang, 
and  subjoin  them  herewith.  From  these  the  reader 
may  judge  for  himself  the  fate  of  other  Korean 
women  prisoners,  thousands  of  them,  in  different  parts 
of  Korea. 

One  is  by  a girl  prisoner  from  Ewa  Hakdang,  the 
American  Methodist  College  for  girls  in  Seoul: 

It  was  on  the  5th  of  March  that  I,  with  others,  for  the 
liberty  of  our  land,  formed  into  a procession  at  the  South 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


95 


Gate.  As  we  neared  the  Palace,  a Japanese  policeman 
seized  me  by  the  hair,  and  I was  thrown  violently  to  the 
ground.  He  kicked  me  mercilessly,  and  I was  rendered 
almost  unconscious.  He  rushed  me  along  by  my  hair, 
and  I was  led  to  the  Chongno  Police  Station.  At  the 
entrance  of  the  police  office  twenty  or  more  Japanese 
policemen,  who  stood  in  line,  kicked  me  and  struck  me 
with  their  swords  and  struck  me  in  the  face  so  many 
times  that  I did  not  realize  whether  they  were  beating  me 
or  some  one  else. 

I was  led  into  a room.  They  dragged  me  on  the  floor ; 
they  struck  me  in  the  face;  they  struck  me  with  their 
swords ; they  flung  me  into  one  corner  of  the  room.  At 
this  point  I must  have  been  unconscious,  as  I do  not  re- 
member what  happened  after  that. 

On  recovering  my  senses  I found  myself  in  a room 
packed  with  young  men  and  women.  I saw  some  of 
them  handled  so  brutally  it  almost  broke  my  heart.  After 
some  time  we  were  cross-examined.  I was  made  to  kneel 
down  with  my  legs  bound  together,  and  each  question 
and  answer  was  accompanied  alternately  by  blows  in  the 
face.  They  spat  in  my  face,  this  with  curses  and  invec- 
tives of  the  worst  kind. 

I was  ordered  to  expose  my  breasts.  When  I refused 
they  tore  my  upper  garments  from  me.  .They  tied  my 
fingers  together  and  jerked  them  violently.  I shut  my 
eyes  and  dropped  down  to  the  floor.  Thereupon,  the  ex- 
amining officers  uttered  an  angry  roar  and  ordered  me  to 
kneel  down  as  before,  then  rushed  at  me,  seizing  me  by 
the  breasts  and  shook  me  violently. 

He  said,  “ You  want  independence,  eh?  Preposterous 
thought!  You  will  get  independence  when  you  are 
locked  in  jail.  Your  life  will  vanish  with  the  stroke  of 
the  sword.”  He  shook  me  fiercely  by  the  hair.  But  he 
was  not  satisfied  even  with  this,  so  he  beat  me  on  the  head 
with  a stick.  He  made  me  extend  my  hands  and  hold  up 


96 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


a heavy  chair.  If  I let  it  drop,  he  would  strike  my  elbow 
with  a stick.  He  made  me  kneel  down  near  a window 
pane;  he  would  come  and  strike  me.  An  hour  or  so 
passed  in  this  manner,  when  I was  told  to  go  down-stairs. 
I found  that  I could  not  walk.  I crawled  on  the  floor 
with  much  difficulty,  even  with  the  help  of  one  of  their 
professional  spies  who  followed  me.  As  I made  the  first 
step  my  strength  gave  out,  and  so  I rolled  down  stairs. 
I was  again  unconscious. 

On  recovering  my  senses  I crawled  into  a room.  The 
policeman  in  charge  of  the  room  was  very  much  amused 
to  see  me  crawling.  He  laughed  loudly  at  my  misery.  I 
spent  five  days  in  all  at  the  police  station.  Then  I was 
sent  to  the  West  Gate  penitentiary.  There  I was  stripped 
naked  and  was  looked  at  by  the  men.  Then  I was  al- 
lowed to  put  on  my  dress  and  was  led  into  a room.  I 
was  sneered  at  and  cursed  beyond  my  power  to  realize. 
In  this  room  there  were  sixteen  persons  who  were  like 
myself.  The  room  was  not  very  large,  and  we  were 
densely  packed  together.  The  toilet  arrangements  were 
placed  in  the  open  room. 

On  the  second  day  a person  called  the  police  doctor 
and  several  others  came  in  and  weighed  me  stripped 
naked.  They,  too,  sneered  and  spat  upon  me.  Now  and 
then  I was  told  by  the  keeper  there  that  I would  be  tried 
publicly.  I looked  forward  to  that  with  a great  deal  of 
consolation,  as  I thought  I would  have  some  chance  to 
state  my  case  without  reserve,  but  I was  let  out  one  day 
without  trial  and  without  being  told  the  nature  of  my 
offense,  or  indeed,  that  there  had  been  legal  offense. 

The  second  statement  is  given  by  a Christian  girl  in 
Pyeng  Yang,  who  is  twenty-one  years  of  age: 

I was  arrested  on  the  streets  of  Pyeng  Yang  the  3rd 
of  March  and  taken  to  the  police  station.  There  were 
many  others,  both  men  and  women.  They  asked  us  if 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


97 


we  smoked,  if  we  drank,  and  if  we  were  Christians. 
Soon  all  were  let  out  with  little  or  no  punishment,  with 
the  exception  of  twelve  Methodist  women,  two  Presby- 
terians and  one  Chundokyo  woman.  Three  of  the  Meth- 
odist women  were  Bible  women.  They  stripped  all  of 
the  women  naked  in  the  presence  of  many  men.  They 
found  nothing  against  me  except  that  I had  been  on  the 
street  and  had  shouted,  Mansei.  They  beat  me  until  the 
perspiration  stood  out  all  over  my  body.  Then  they  said, 
“ Oh,  you  are  hot,”  and  then  threw  cold  water  over  me. 
Then  they  stuck  me  with  the  lighted  ends  of  their  ciga- 
rettes. 

My  offense  was  considered  very  little  compared  with 
those  who  made  flags,  or  took  part  in  the  independence 
parade.  Some  were  beaten  until  they  were  unconscious. 
One  young  woman  resisted  having  her  clothes  taken  off. 
They  tore  off  her  clothing  and  beat  her  all  the  harder. 
After  four  days  we  were  taken  to  the  prison.  Here  we 
were  packed  in  a room  with  men  and  women.  One  day 
an  old  man  was  beaten  until  he  died.  One  of  the  Bible 
women  was  chained  next  to  him.  She  asked  to  be  moved, 
but  they  compelled  her  to  watch  the  dead  body  all  night. 
One  of  the  Bible  women  not  only  had  her  hands  bound, 
but  had  her  feet  put  in  stocks.  They  would  not  allow  us 
to  talk  or  pray.  They  made  vile  and  indecent  remarks 
to  us. 

All  this  was  done  by  the  Japanese.  Though  there  were 
Korean  policemen  in  the  room  they  took  no  part  in  the 
beating  or  in  the  vileness.  The  Japanese  know  the  Bible 
and  blaspheme  the  name  of  Christ,  and  asked  us  if  there 
was  not  a man  by  the  name  of  Saul  who  was  put  in 
prison.  They  asked  us  most  of  all  as  to  what  the  for- 
eigners had  said  and  were  most  vile  and  cruel  to  those 
who  had  been  with  the  missionaries,  or  who  had  taught 
in  the  mission  schools.  Some  of  the  girls  were  so 
changed  that  they  did  not  look  like  human  beings. 


98 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


These  disgusting  instances  of  official  lechery  should 
be  read  with  the  consideration  that  in  Korea  female 
modesty  is  a matter  of  religion.  Many  thousands  of 
Koreans  have  embraced  Christianity,  and  behind  that 
they  have  thousands  of  years  of  tradition  calling  for 
exaggerated  chastity  on  the  part  of  both  men  and 
women.  The  opportunity  of  combining  business  with 
pleasure,  and  oppression  with  satisfaction,  was  not  lost 
upon  the  Japanese  police.  The  Korean  has  a very 
high  ideal  of  womanhood,  and  to  be  courteous  to  the 
weaker  sex  is  his  inborn  trait.  The  women  prisoners, 
some  of  them  from  best  families  in  Korea,  were 
subjected  to  indignities  that  would  make  the  German 
soldiers  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France  blush  with 
shame.  The  Japanese  officers  called  them  unspeakable 
names,  accused  them  of  being  pregnant.  “ You  can 
cut  us  open  and  see,”  retorted  one  of  the  girls.  Some 
of  the  women  arrested  were  compelled  to  kneel  down 
on  the  floor  and  hold  a heavy  board  at  arm’s  length  for 
hours.  They  were  beaten  whenever  their  arms  trem- 
bled. One  girl  bowed  her  head  to  pray,  and  she  was 
punished  by  three  hours’  standing.  “As  to  what  we 
girls  passed  through  in  heart  during  the  ordeal  makes 
us  weep  with  agony,”  said  one  of  the  girls  in  relating 
her  prison  experience  to  her  American  teacher,  “ but 
as  we  did  it  for  our  country,  we  took  the  shame  of  it 
gladly.  Had  it  been  for  any  other  cause  we  would  have 
died  first.”  ’ 

’ Two  testimonies  other  than  I have  given  above  were  printed 
in  Sacramento  Bee  (Sacramento,  Calif.)  November  25,  iQlQi 
under  the  title,  “ Korean  Girls  Suffer  Japanese  Prison  Torture." 


Like  the  courageous  Biblical  Esther,  who  delivered  her  people  from  per- 
secution, the  Korean  girls  not  only  have  exhibited  the  spirit  of  supreme  sacrifice 
and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  freedom  of  their  people,  but  also  have  demon- 
strated a remarkable  degree  of  courage  and  resourcefulness  in  their  participation 
in  the  national  movement. 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


99 


After  relating  some  of  these  tales  in  a magazine 
article — “The  Jap  Hun — Read  His  Record!”  C.  V. 
Emmons  comments; 

No  business  of  America’s?  If  this  is  the  behaviour  of 
Japan  for  a few  months  when  she  was  showing  the  world 
her  best  behaviour — what  is  her  record  for  the  years  she 
has  ruled  in  secret?  If  she  does  these  horrors  upon 
people  of  her  own  colour — what  would  she  do  to  another 
race?  If  her  art  and  civilization  and  Occidental  ideals 
let  her  act  like  this  in  peace — how  will  she  act  in  war?  ’ 

Where  actual  beating  and  torture  are  not  employed, 
the  prisoners  are  subjected  to  treatment  repulsive  in 
the  extreme.  Compelling  prisoners,  men  and  women, 
to  bathe  together  in  filthy  water,  is  one  of  them.  “ We 
had  to  bathe,  140  persons  in  one  tub,”  said  one  of  the 
girl  prisoners.  “ The  water  was  so  dirty,  and  it 
smelled  so  bad  it  made  me  dizzy.”  Apologizing  for 
the  Japanese  officials  for  this  phase  of  their  treatment 
of  the  Korean  prisoners,  Peggy  Hull,  the  girl  war 
correspondent  of  the  Newspaper  Enterprise  Associa- 
tion, on  her  return  from  the  Far  East  in  August,  1919, 
adds  after  relating  the  prison  conditions  in  Korea: 

In  fairness  to  the  Japanese  I must  say  that  in  their 
own  country  men  and  women  use  the  same  dressing 
rooms  and  bathe  indiscriminately  in  the  same  tub  without 
regard  to  sex.  They  even  go  calling  on  their  neighbours 
during  the  bathing  hour  and  apparently  think  no  more  of 
the  proceeding  than  we  would  of  brushing  our  hair.  Ko- 

' C.  V.  Emmons,  “ The  Jap  Hun — Read  His  Record,”  in  Uncle 
Sam  (New  York),  a monthly  published  for  service  men,  by  Guy 
Empey,  January,  192a 


100 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


rean  women,  however,  are  extremely  modest,  and  no  such 
freedom  of  intimacy  exists  in  Korean  homes.’ 

Filth  and  congestion  are  another  feature  of  Japa- 
nese prisons  in  Korea.  Japanese  and  Korean  pris- 
oners are  separated  in  different  quarters;  Japanese 
being  placed  in  rooms  well  lighted,  ventilated  and 
heated  in  winter,  with  only  a few  in  a room,  and  Ko- 
reans huddled  together  in  cells  worse  than  dungeons. 
Prison  conditions  in  old  Korea  may  have  been  bad,  but 
could  not  possibly  have  been  as  bad  as  now  under 
Japanese  rule.  During  the  wholesale  arrest  of  men 
and  women  in  Seoul,  March,  1919,  in  one  of  the 
prisons  five  women  had  to  sleep  under  one  quilt  in- 
fested with  vermin.  In  another  prison  “ sixty  people 
were  confined  in  a room  fourteen  by  eight  feet,  where 
they  had  to  stand  up  all  the  time,  not  being  allowed  to 
sit  or  lie  down.  Eating  and  sleeping,  they  stood  lean- 
ing against  one  another.  The  wants  of  nature  had  to 
be  attended  to  by  them  as  they  stood.  The  secretary 
of  one  of  the  mission  schools  was  kept  for  seven  days 
in  this  room,  as  part  of  sixteen  days’  confinement,  be- 
fore he  was  released.”  ’ William  R.  Giles,  the  Peking 
correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  was  in 
Korea  April,  1919.  In  one  of  the  prisons  in  Pyeng 
Yang  he  found  more  than  thirty  prisoners  in  one 
room,  ten  feet  by  six.  During  torture  periods  the 
prisoners  were  taken  out  to  examination  rooms  which 

> Peggy  Hull  in  San  Bernardino  Index  {Szn  Bernardino,  Calif.), 
August  8,  1919. 

“ F.  A.  McKenzie,  Korea’s  Fight  for  Freedom,  p.  285. 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


101 


are  quite  spacious.  And  to  add  hypocrisy  to  brutality, 
“ an  official  Japanese  journal  recently  published  an 
article  about  the  Korean  prison  declaring  it  to  be  equal 
to  a health  resort  and  almost  as  well  equipped  as  a 
technical  school.”  ‘ 

“ The  prisons  . . . have  been  left  unheated 

during  the  bitterest  weather  of  winter.  This  has 
caused  suffering  and  loss  of  life,”  says  Bishop  Herbert 
Welch.'  Dr.  J.  W.  Hirst,  of  Severance  Hospital  at 
Seoul,  told  me  in  April,  1920,  that  during  the  winter 
of  1919  four  of  the  nurses  of  his  hospital,  arrested  for 
shouting  Mansei,  had  their  hands  and  feet  frozen  and 
another  one  had  her  face  frozen.  The  following  let- 
ter, written  by  a Presbyterian  missionary  in  Pyeng 
Yang,  Korea,  dated  February  25,  1920,  to  A.  W. 
Gillis,  of  Los  Angeles  Bible  Institute,  gives  a clear 
idea  of  the  prison  conditions  in  Korea.  After  describ- 
ing the  loyalty  of  the  Koreans  to  their  faith  despite 
official  persecution,  and  hopeful  prospects  of  the 
Church,  the  writer  proceeds: 

*♦♦*♦** 

Along  with  these  encouraging  reports  have  come  others 
that  have  made  our  hearts  sad  with  a mixture  of  right- 
eous indignation.  From  the  East  Coast  a telegram  came 
yesterday  to  Dr.  Blair  saying  that  the  Government  offi- 
cials in  that  district  are  persecuting  the  Christians,  and 
interfering  with  the  forward  movement.  Another  tele- 
gram came  the  day  before  yesterday  announcing  that 

’Peggy  Hull,  in  San  Bernardino  (Calif.)  Index,  August  8, 
1919. 

^Central  Christian  Advocate  (Kansas  City,  Mo.),  May  12,  1920, 

p.  II. 


102 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


several  women  Christians  in  a church  in  Dr.  Blair’s  ter- 
ritory had  been  arrested  and  charged  with  praying  for  the 
sick.  The  pastor  of  their  church  came  into  Pyeng  Yang 
yesterday  and  reported  that  the  police  there  had  called 
him  in  and  ordered  him  to  sign  a paper  promising  not  to 
pray  for  the  sick  again.  He  refused  and  told  the  police 
that  he  had  been  praying  for  the  sick  all  his  life  and  that 
he  intended  to  continue  to  do  so.  Thousands  of  natives 
are  in  prison  charged  with  complicity  in  the  Independence 
Movement.  Many  of  these  are  Christians,  as  the  Japa- 
nese are  particularly  zealous  in  arresting  Christians, 
though  they  are  no  more  concerned  in  the  movement  than 
the  non-Christians.  The  Christians  in  prison  remain 
steadfast  to  their  faith  and  hold  prayers  morning  and 
evening,  in  spite  of  the  Japanese.  Those  who  have  come 
out  of  prison  have  reported  conditions  in  the  prisons  that 
are  almost  unbelievable,  yet  they  all  tell  the  same  stor>', 
and  sufficient  proof  has  been  collected  to  make  it  abso- 
lutely certain  that  what  they  say  is  true.  These  condi- 
tions exist  to-day,  months  after  the  so-called  reforms 
have  gone  into  effect.  We  have  had  a very  cold  winter 
with  the  thermometer  registering  as  low  as  fifteen  de- 
grees below  zero  F.  Yet  in  the  coldest  weather  there 
have  been  almost  no  fires  in  the  prisons.  I say  " almost  ” 
because  in  a few  prisons,  in  the  halls  of  the  hospitals, 
there  have  been  a few  small  stoves  that  have  kept  the 
temperature  of  the  halls  (not  the  rooms  of  the  hospital 
where  the  patients  are)  up  to  a few  degrees  below  freez- 
ing. In  the  majority  of  the  prisons,  by  the  admission  of 
the  Japanese  officials  themselves,  there  have  been  no  fires. 
Some  men  and  women  in  prison  have  actually  frozen  to 
death.  I shall  be  specific.  Last  week  we  had  several 
days  of  zero  weather.  A man  who  came  out  of  prison 
a day  or  two  ago  reported  to  Dr.  Moffett  that  the  man 
who  was  sleeping  beside  him  was  frozen  to  death.  No 
one  knows  how  many  others  have  shared  their  fate.  We 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


103 


know  that  many  have  had  their  hands  and  feet  frozen, 
because  we  have  seen  their  hands  and  feet  after  they 
came  out  of  prison.  But  you  say  that  this  does  not  show 
any  particular  animus  or  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  Japa- 
nese. Perhaps,  but  it  is  an  interesting  commentary  on 
their  civilization  and  boasted  claims  of  reform.  But  let 
me  cite  a few  more  facts.  Last  Wednesday  was  a zero 
weather  day,  and  to  make  it  worse  there  was  a bitter  wind 
blowing  that  made  it  almost  impossible  to  walk  outdoors. 
I know  because  I tried  it.  Yet  that  night  the  Japanese 
made  a woman,  whose  term  in  prison  expired  that  day, 
walk  a half  mile  through  the  snow  in  her  bare  feet,  from 
one  prison  to  another,  just  for  the  purpose  of  going 
through  the  red  tape  of  setting  her  free.  And  this  after 
her  sentence  had  expired ! In  the  prison  both  men  and 
women  are  forced  each  night  to  remove  all  their  clothes 
in  one  building,  and  then  run  across  a court  for  about  a 
hundred  feet  through  the  open  air,  naked,  to  their  sleep- 
ing quarters,  where  they  put  on  their  cold  night  clothing 
and  sleep  under  insufficient  cover  in  unheated  rooms.  In 
the  morning  they  remove  their  night  clothing  in  their 
sleeping  quarters,  run  naked  back  across  the  court,  under 
the  open  air,  then  put  on  their  day  clothes  which  have 
been  in  an  unheated  room  all  night.  Plea.se  bear  in  mind 
that  the  women,  as  well  as  the  men,  are  forced  to  do  this, 
and  that  it  is  the  regular  routine  no  matter  how  cold  the 
weather.  At  meals  the  prisoners  are  divided  into  eight 
groups,  according  to  the  work  they  do.  The  first  group 
are  given  the  most  food,  and  this  only  about  half  enough 
for  an  ordinary  meal  such  as  they  have  been  accustomed 
to.  The  next  group  receives  less  food,  the  third  still  less, 
and  so  on  down  to  the  eighth  group,  which  receives  the 
least  amount  of  food  of  all.  The  women  are  in  the 
seventh  group.  A boy  who  was  in  the  fourth  group  told 
me  he  was  hungry  all  the  time.  You  can  imagine  how 
the  poor  people  in  the  eighth  group  suffered  for  the  lack 


104 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


of  food.  No  food  can  be  sent  to  the  prisoners  from  the 
outside  after  they  have  been  sentenced. 

One  of  the  most  refined  bits  of  torture  to  which  the 
prisoners  are  subjected  is  by  a prison  rule  which  compels 
them  to  sit  on  the  ground  in  Japanese  fashion  instead  of 
according  to  the  Korean  custom.  The  Korean  custom  is 
to  sit  down,  cross  their  feet  and  tuck  them  under  the 
body.  The  Japanese  custom  is  to  kneel  and  then  sit  back 
on  their  heels.  If  you  think  this  is  anything  less  than 
torture  for  a person  not  accustomed  to  it,  try'  it  for  half 
an  hour ! The  Koreans,  who  are  no  more  accustomed  to 
it  than  we  are,  are  forced  to  sit  that  way  for  hours  at  a 
time. 

♦ *****# 

But  what  is  the  result  on  the  Koreans?  The  men  and 
women  who  have  been  subjected  to  this  treatment  in 
prison  come  out  more  determined  than  ever  to  fight  for 
independence  to  the  bitter  end.  Boys  who  went  into  the 
March  demonstrations  for  fun  come  out  of  prison  the 
sworn  enemies  of  the  Japanese. 

Since  writing  the  above,  new  facts  have  come  to  my 
attention  which  I feel  that  I must  mention.  I said  above 
that  the  Japanese  claim  to  have  abolished  torture  since 
the  new  regime  went  into  power.  Since  writing  the  sen- 
tence referred  to,  the  following  new  facts  have  been 
called  to  my  attention.  A man,  who  was  sick  and  deliri- 
ous in  a hospital,  was  arrested  while  in  that  condition, 
taken  from  the  hospital  to  the  police  court,  put  in  a cold 
room,  then  removed  to  a warm  room  until  he  became  con- 
scious, then  taken  to  court  for  examination.  Upon  re- 
fusing to  tell  what  he  was  asked  to  tell  about  others  en- 
gaged in  the  Independence  Movement,  he  was  sent  back 
to  the  cold  room  for  ten  days,  and  then,  when  about  to 
die,  was  put  out  of  prison,  and  died  the  next  day.  But 
before  his  death  he  told  his  own  and  the  following  stories. 
He  said  that  the  day  before  he  was  turned  out  to  die, 


PEISONS  AND  PEISON  TOETUEES 


106 


another  man,  a theological  student,  was  put  into  the  room 
with  him  in  an  almost  dying  condition.  This  theological 
student  had  been  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  torture. 
Among  other  things  he  had  three  kettles  of  water  poured 
into  his  nostrils  to  force  him  to  confess  the  names  of 
those  connected  with  the  Independence  Movement ! 
Please  bear  in  mind  that  this  happened,  not  last  year,  but 
within  the  last  two  weeks,  since  the  first  day  of  February, 
1920!  And  the  Japanese  claim  to  have  abolished  tor- 
ture ! Another  man  recently  released  from  prison  re- 
ports that  four  men  were  recently  frozen  to  death.  A 
Korean  friend  told  me  to-day  that  all  the  men  in  prison 
now  have  frozen  feet.  One  of  our  best  and  most  spir- 
itually minded  pastors,  moderator  of  Presbytery,  is  in 
prison  for  a sentence  of  two  years  because  the  people  at 
a funeral  service,  which  he  was  conducting  over  a man 
who  had  been  shot  by  the  Japanese  gendarmes,  shouted 
“ Mansei ! ” We  have  just  heard  that  this  man  has  his 
feet  frozen,  and  that  they  are  in  such  a condition  that  he 
is  likely  to  die  there  in  prison ! 

I am  telling  you  these  things  because  there  is  a per- 
sistent propaganda  being  carried  on  by  the  Japanese  in 
American  newspapers  to  convince  the  American  public 
that  they  have  reformed  conditions  in  Korea.  I hope 
you  will  use  your  influence  to  publish  these  facts  as 
widely  as  possible,  both  in  the  newspapers  and  in  the 
public  gatherings.  Use  my  name  in  confidence,  if  you 
wish,  but  see  to  it  that  it  is  withheld  from  publication. 

Sincerely  yours. 


Presbyterian  Missionary  in  Korea. 


VI 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 

IT  is  asserted  by  Japanese  and  their  spokesmen  in 
America  that  Nipponese  rule  in  Korea  has  been 
a material  boon  to  Korea,  and  that  the  Land  of 
Morning  Calm  is  economically  better  off  to-day  than 
ever  before.  But  what  is  meant  by  “ better  ” ? Who 
has  paid  for  these  improvements,  and  who  is  to  bear 
the  burden  of  the  debt  created  to  make  them  ? Is  the 
average  individual  Korean  any  better  off  to-day  than 
he  was  before? 

Those  to  whom  the  assertion  is  made  should  also  be 
told  that  Japan  has  increased  the  national  debt  of 
Korea  from  practically  nothing,  $368,256.50  to  be 
exact,  to  the  sum  of  $52,461,827.50  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1918.  Has  increasing  the  national  debt  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  times  “ bettered  ” the  economical 
condition  of  Korea? 

It  should  also  be  known  that  Japan  has  increased 
the  taxes  collected  from  lands  and  property  owned  by 
the  people  from  $3,561,907.50  per  annum,  in  1905,  to 
$19,849,128  in  1919.  Is  the  individual  Korean  any 
“ better  off  economically  ” because  he  pays  five  and 
one-half  times  as  much  tax  under  Japanese  rule,  with- 
out independence,  freedom  and  representation,  as  he 

io6 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION  107 

did  under  Korean  rule  with  freedom  and  independ- 
ence ? 

This  “ bettering  process,”  this  great  “ material 
boon  ” has  cost  Koreans  in  excess  taxes  $66,386,098, 
and  has  increased  the  burden  of  their  debts  $52,093,- 
571,  a grand  total  of  $118,479,669,  which  ought  to  do 
quite  a little  “ bettering  ” and  should  create  a “ boon  ” 
of  considerable  size. 

Yet  no  Japanese,  in  the  wildest  flights  of  imagina- 
tion, will  say  that  more  than  $75,000,000  has  been 
spent  in  Korea  for  public  improvements  since  Japanese 
occupation.  As  a matter  of  fact,  the  total,  compiled 
from  the  Report  on  Reforms  and  Progress,  published 
as  a part  of  Japanese  propaganda,  is  $66,649,735. 
This  total  includes  at  least  one-third  extra  for  graft 
and  corruption  fund.  For  instance,  the  railroad  ex- 
tensions are  charged  up  as  costing  $75,000  per  mile 
that  could  not  by  any  possibility  have  cost  over  $35,000 
per  mile,  considering  that  right  of  way  costs  and 
labour  costs  were  negligible  quantities.  A valuation 
commission,  with  most  liberal  views,  could  not  fix  the 
actual  cost  of  all  these  boasted  improvements  and 
betterments  at  over  $40,000,000. 

Is  it  economically  good  practice  to  spend  $118,479,- 
669  for  improvements  and  betterments  that  are  in- 
trinsically worth  but  $40,000,000?  Japan  has  spent 
millions  in  Korea  in  military  domination,  but  this 
overhead  expense  has  no  bearing  on  the  material  im- 
provements of  the  country,  and  the  Koreans  cannot  be 
made  to  pay  or  account  for  the  cost  of  their  oppression. 

It  is  true  that  roads  have  been  built,  streets  widened. 


108 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


sanitation  improved,  telegraphic  and  postal  communi- 
cations extended  and  afforestation  encouraged.  But 
the  Korean  people  have  paid  for  them,  and  Korean 
virgin  forests  have  been  devastated  at  a hundred  fold 
greater  rate  than  afforestation  has  been  accomplished. 
Furthermore,  a close  examination  of  the  material  im- 
provements made  in  Korea  reveals  that  only  such 
improvements  have  been  made  as  would  profit  Japa- 
nese. What  benefits  the  Koreans  have  received  are 
incidental  and  accidental,  and  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment has  taken  proper  measures  to  reduce  even  these 
to  a minimum. 

Japan  knows  how  to  show  her  bright  spots  and  put 
the  best  foot  forward.  Thus,  there  were  erected  and 
maintained  in  show  places  to  impress  strangers  elabo- 
rate public  buildings  far  in  excess  of  the  economic 
strength  of  the  nation.  “The  Japanese  take  good  care 
to  advertise  various  improvements  in  Korean  life,” 
says  one  writer  who  knows  Japanese  methods;  “in 
Seoul  there  is  a great  display  hall  which  houses  a 
graphic  representation  of  Korea  rejuvenated,  showing 
highways  substituted  for  muddy  lanes,  over  which 
little  brown-clad  postmen  are  bearing  the  mail  to  every 
hamlet,  and  Koreans  are  jogging  along  in  their  wooden 
carts  bringing  to  far-away  markets  the  products  that 
hitherto  they  could  sell  only  in  their  villages.  The 
main  carrying  trade,  however,  is  now  almost  wholly 
in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese.”  * 

In  order  to  use  Korea  as  a base  of  military  opera- 

* Sidney  Greenbie,  “ Korea  Asserts  Herself,”  Asia,  September, 
1919,  p.  922. 


DIFFERENT  SCENES  OF  SEOUL 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


109 


tions  in  case  of  war  on  the  Asiatic  mainland,  Japan 
has  built  splendid  roads  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Korea.  They  are  the  kind  of  roads  of 
which  Barney  Oldfield  himself  could  not  complain. 
But  they  are  strictly  military  roads  built  without  re- 
gard to  utility  to  the  Korean  people.  A recent  Ameri- 
can visitor  to  Korea  finds  these  splendid  roads  in  the 
remote  districts  in  Korea,  where  they  are  of  no  com- 
mercial or  communicational  value  to  the  Korean.  In 
describing  one  of  them,  the  American  traveller  com- 
ments: 

So  perfect  a road  made  the  empty  plateau  look  more 
desolate  than  ever.  The  dwellers  in  these  squalid  huts 
would  never  have  built  it ; neither  would  the  people  of  the 
valleys  who  used  it  only  occasionally  when  they  bartered 
with  the  people  in  the  valleys  beyond.  The  crooked  trail 
that  we  could  half  make  out  in  the  rough  grass  at  the 
side  of  the  big  road  would  do  very  well  for  such  meager 
trade  as  the  far-away  town  on  the  other  side  of  the  pass 
demanded.  Just  what,  then,  did  the  road  mean  ? 
Korea’s  commerce  did  not  necessitate  it.  This  highway 
could  be  but  one  thing — a military  road  to  fortify  a con- 
queror’s power.’ 

The  de  luxe  trains  on  the  trunk  line  that  run  from 
Fusan  to  Mukden  are  quite  equal  to  the  Broadway  or 
Twentieth  Century  Limited.  The  average  globe- 
trotter cannot  but  be  impressed  with  this  magnificent 
system  of  communication.  But  he  is  utterly  ignorant 
of  the  grim  tragedy  that  lies  behind  the  building  and 
maintaining  of  these  roads.  Every  inch  of  Japanese 

‘Alice  Tisdale,  “A  Korean  Highroad,”  Asia,  XX,  789-794, 
September,  1920, 


110 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


roads  and  railroads  is  built  upon  confiscated  property 
without  a cent  of  compensation  and  by  Korean  la- 
bourers who  are  compelled  to  work  without  pay. 

Prior  to  the  annexation  of  the  country,  “ Military 
Necessity  ” was  the  pretext  used  by  the  Japanese  in 
confiscating  private  property ; now  it  is  “ Eminent 
Domain.”  Regardless  of  the  name  they  choose  to 
give  to  this  governmental  robbery,  the  effect  is  the 
same  to  the  Korean — loss  of  property  without  compen- 
sation. Imagine  the  predicament  of  a Korean  in  the 
city  whose  house  has  been  torn  down  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  order  to  widen  the  street  and  who  is  deprived 
of  his  home  and  property  without  compensation,  or 
that  of  farmers  commandeered  without  pay  during  the 
busiest  time  of  the  harvest  season  to  build  a military 
road  for  which  they  have  no  use.  This  is  the  fate  of 
Koreans  wherever  material  improvements  have  been 
made,  and  yet  the  Japanese  take  the  praise  to  them- 
selves. 

To  the  credit  of  Japan  she  has  one  man  among  her 
scholars  who  denounces  this  system  of  confiscation  and 
forced  labour  practised  by  the  Japanese  Government 
in  Korea.  This  is  none  other  than  Dr.  Yoshino,  the 
eminent  professor  of  the  Imperial  University  of 
Tokyo,  who  made  a trip  to  Korea  in  1916.  In  an 
article  published  in  the  Chuo-Koron  of  Tokyo,  Dr. 
Yoshino  wrote  on  this  phase  of  Japanese  administra- 
tion in  Korea: 

Without  consideration  and  mercilessly  they  have  re- 
sorted to  laws  for  the  expropriation  of  land,  the  Koreans 
concerned  being  compelled  to  part  with  their  family 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


111 


property  for  nothing.  On  many  occasions  they  have 
also  been  forced  to  work  in  the  construction  of  roads 
without  receiving  any  wages.  To  make  matters  worse, 
they  must  work  for  nothing  only  on  the  days  which  are 
convenient  to  the  officials,  however  inconvenient  these 
days  may  be  to  the  unpaid  workers. 

This  is  generally  the  method  by  which  the  Japanese 
Government  in  Korea  has  brought  about  the  material 
improvement  and  for  which  they  ask  credit  and  praise. 
“ New  roads  are  good,  but  the  Koreans,  who  have 
built  them,  without  proper  remuneration,  at  the  point 
of  the  sword  in  great  gangs  of  forced  labour,  do  not 
appreciate  them,”  writes  an  American  resident  in 
Korea.  ” Japanese  salaries  for  men  in  the  same  work 
throughout  the  whole  Government  system  are  twice 
what  Koreans  get.  And  yet,  it  is  the  Koreans  who 
pay  the  taxes.  The  progress  is  fine,  and  the  ship  rides 
high  on  the  wave,  but  it  has  become  unbearable  to  the 
galley  slave  in  the  hold.”  " 

This  system  of  bringing  about  material  improve- 
ment is  not  only  unjust  and  costly  to  individual  Ko- 
reans, but  there  is  the  injustice  found  in  the  wholesale 
confiscation  of  lands  to  give  them  to  Japanese  immi- 
grants, and  in  the  relentless  discrimination  practised  in 
commerce  and  industry  by  the  Government  in  order  to 
reduce  the  Koreans  to  economic  serfdom.  With  no 
anti-Japanese  sentiment.  Professor  T.  A.  Crane  of 
Pittsburg  University  writes  in  the  New  York  Times: 

It  was  my  opinion  when  I was  in  Korea,  and  is  my 
’ The  Korean  Situation,  pp.  106-107. 


112 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


opinion  still,  that  it  is  Japan’s  intention  that  all  the  Ko- 
reans shall  be  practically  serfs,  pursuing  only  the  trades 
of  farmers  and  artisans,  leaving  to  the  Japanese  immi- 
grants the  administration  of  Government,  the  mercantile 
and  banking  trades,  and  other  more  profitable  callings. 
In  other  words,  Korea  is  being  exploited  altogether  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Japanese  with  little  thought  of  any 
obligation  to  the  natives. 

The  total  wealth  of  the  country  has  been  increased 
since  Japanese  occupation,  but  the  economic  status  of 
the  Korean  is  worse  than  it  was  under  the  old  adminis- 
tration. Over  one  million  and  a half  Koreans  have 
emigrated  to  China  and  Siberia  since  Korea  became  a 
part  of  Japan,  not  only  to  avoid  the  military  tyranny 
of  the  Japanese,  but  also  to  escape  this  economic  pres- 
sure brought  upon  them  by  that  rule. 

Under  the  Korean  Government  all  land  was  divided 
into  four  classes:  (1)  Private  lands  owned  by  private 
individuals;  (2)  Royal  lands  belonging  to  the  King, 
but  sometimes  leased  in  perpetuity  to  private  indi- 
viduals, with  the  right  of  selling  to  another  individual 
without  changing  the  ownership  and  the  privilege  of 
inheritance;  (3)  Municipal  lands,  the  title  to  which  be- 
longed to  the  various  municipalities,  but  the  practical 
ownership  of  which  was  in  the  hands  of  private  indi- 
viduals; (4)  Lands  belonging  to  Buddhist  temples. 

Owners  of  private  lands  paid  taxes  to  the  Govern- 
ment; holders  of  royal  lands  paid  tribute  to  the  royal 
household ; owners  of  municipal  lands  paid  fees  to  the 
respective  municipalities  which  held  the  title  of  lands; 
and  the  Ijmds  belonging  to  Buddhist  temples  were  free 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


113 


from  all  taxation.  These  temple  lands  were  held  ac- 
cording to  a communistic  plan  among  the  Buddhists. 
When  the  Japanese  annexed  Korea,  they  surveyed  the 
country  and  confiscated  all  lands  belonging  to  the 
royal  household,  to  the  municipalities  and  to  the  Bud- 
dhist temples,  on  the  technical  ground  that  since  these 
lands  did  not  belong  to  private  individuals,  they  must 
be  the  property  of  the  Government.  This  sweeping 
confiscation  made  many  thousands  of  formerly  well- 
to-do  Koreans  paupers.  After  the  land  was  thus  con- 
fiscated by  the  new  Government  it  was  leased  or  sold 
to  Japanese  farmers,  not  to  Koreans. 

The  policy  of  the  Tokyo  Government  is  to  induce 
a large  body  of  Japanese  to  settle  in  Korea  so  that  they 
should  form  a body  strong  enough  to  hold  Korea  in 
the  event  of  an  armed  protest  on  the  part  of  the 
Korean  people.  There  are  over  300,000  Japanese  in 
Korea,  and  the  number  is  increasing  steadily. 

When  Bismarck  wanted  to  Prussianize  Poland,  he 
moved  several  million  Germans  into  German  Poland 
to  help  assimilate  the  Poles.  Money  was  appropriated 
by  the  German  Government  to  buy  land  from  the  Poles 
for  these  newcomers.  The  Poles  clung  to  their  lands 
and  refused  to  be  assimilated,  with  the  consequence 
that  the  price  of  land  in  German  Poland  went  up,  and 
the  Poles  became  prosperous. 

Japan  pursued  the  same  policy  in  a more  efficacious 
way.  The  Oriental  Development  Company  was  or- 
ganized under  the  direction  of  the  Government  to 
carry  on  this  peaceful  penetration  of  Korea.  Its  pur- 
pose is  to  promote  Japanese  colonization  in  Korea  and 


114 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


to  develop  the  uncultivated  lands  in  the  peninsula.  But 
its  practice  has  been,  and  is  still,  to  dispossess  the 
Koreans  of  their  property  by  illegitimate  methods  and 
to  carry  on  the  Governmental  exploitation  of  Korea 
at  the  expense  of  the  Korean  people.  The  following 
illustration,  which  is  one  of  the  many  subtle  methods 
employed  by  the  Company  to  get  hold  of  the  Korean 
property,  will  make  clear  to  the  reader  the  workings 
of  this  semi-official  corporation. 

Rice  is  the  chief  agricultural  product  in  Korea,  and 
water  which  irrigates  the  rice  fields  runs  from  one 
field  to  the  other  in  succession.  The  agents  of  the 
Oriental  Development  Company  buy  the  rice  patch 
through  which  water  must  run  to  the  other  fields  in 
succession.  The  Japanese  agent  or  “farmer”  cuts 
off  the  water  supply  to  the  other  fields.  The  Korean 
farmer  complains  to  the  Japanese  authorities,  who 
blandly  ignore  him.  The  Korean  is  then  told  that  since 
his  land  has  become  worthless,  he  might  as  well  sell  it 
to  the  Oriental  Development  Company,  at  the  price 
the  Japanese  will  pay,  not  what  the  Korean  farmer 
would  ask  or  what  the  land  is  worth  when  he  can  get 
water.  By  these  and  equally  illegitimate  methods  the 
Oriental  Development  Company  has  acquired,  and  is 
still  acquiring,  thousands  of  acres  of  the  best  lands  in 
Korea.  The  Koreans  know  the  game  of  the  Govern- 
ment, but  they  have  no  means  to  counteract  it.  And 
woe  to  the  Korean  who  dare  oppose  by  physical  force 
any  of  the  agents  of  this  Company,  or  any  Japanese, 
for  that  matter,  for  his  property  will  be  subject  to 
confiscation,  and  his  life  will  be  jeopardized.  There 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


116 


are  many  cases  where  the  Koreans  were  shot  by  Japa- 
nese soldiers,  because  they  attempted  to  protect  their 
home  and  property  from  the  agents  of  Japanese  ex- 
ploiters. Already  one-third  of  the  best  land  in  Korea 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  and  tlie  amount  is  in- 
creasing rapidly. 

Koreans,  who  are  thus  despoiled  of  their  home  and 
land,  are  compelled  to  emigrate  into  the  wilds  of 
Manchuria  and  Siberia  to  seek  a livelihood.  “ Among 
the  most  pathetic  sights  in  Seoul,”  observes  one  Ameri- 
can, “ are  the  groups  of  men,  women  and  children, 
with  their  little  possessions,  waiting  at  the  by-stations 
for  trains  to  the  outer  world.”  ^ By  far  the  majority 
of  Korean  emigrants  make  their  journey  on  foot.  Al- 
though the  Japanese  authorities  do  not  allow  Koreans 
to  depart  to  other  parts  of  the  world,  they  encourage 
Korean  exodus  into  Manchuria  and  Siberia  for  two  rea- 
sons: (1)  to  make  room  for  the  Japanese  immigrants 
into  Korea;  (2)  to  scatter  Koreans  into  these  regions 
so  that  Japan  can  have  a claim  on  these  regions  on  the 
pretext  of  “ protecting  ” her  Korean  subjects  and  sta- 
tion her  soldiers  by  what  Putnam  Weale  calls  “ In- 
filtration Tactics.”  ’ The  suffering  and  hardship  that 
these  Korean  emigrants  undergo  in  their  exodus  is  best 
described  by  Rev.  W.  T.  Cook  of  the  Manchurian 
Christian  College  at  Moukden. 

’ Sidney  Grecnbie,  " Korea  Asserts  Herself,”  Asia,  September, 

1919,  P.  922. 

’ Cf.  Putnam  Weale,  “ Forces  Behind  Japan’s  Imperialism,” 
New  York  Times  Current  History,  II,  pt.  2:165-168,  January, 

1920. 


116 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


The  untold  afflictions  of  the  Korean  immigrants  com- 
ing into  Manchuria  will,  doubtless,  never  be  fully  realized, 
even  by  those  actually  witnessing  their  distress.  In  the 
still  closeness  of  a forty  below  zero  climate  in  the  dead 
of  winter,  the  silent  stream  of  white  clad  figures  creeps 
over  the  icy  mountain  passes,  in  groups  of  ten,  twenties 
and  fifties,  seeking  a new  world  of  subsistence,  willing  to 
take  a chance  of  life  and  death  in  a hand-to-hand  struggle 
with  the  stubborn  soil  of  Manchuria’s  wooded  and  stony 
hillsides.  Here,  by  indefatigable  efforts,  they  seek  to  ex- 
tract a living  by  applying  the  grub  axe  and  hand  hoe  to 
the  barren  mountain  sides  above  the  Chinese  fields,  plant- 
ing and  reaping  by  hand,  between  roots,  the  sparse  yield 
that  is  often  insufficient  to  sustain  life. 

Many  have  died  from  insufficient  food.  Not  only 
women  and  children,  but  young  men  have  been  frozen  to 
death.  Sickness  also  claims  its  toll  under  these  new 
conditions  of  exposure.  Koreans  have  been  seen  stand- 
ing barefooted  on  the  broken  ice  of  a riverside  fording 
place,  rolling  up  their  baggy  trousers  before  wading 
through  the  broad  stream,  two  feet  deep,  of  ice  cold 
water,  then  standing  on  the  opposite  side  while  they 
hastily  adjust  their  clothing  and  shoes. 

Women  with  insufficient  clothing  and  parts  of  their 
bodies  exposed,  carry  little  children  on  their  backs,  thus 
creating  mutual  warmth  in  a slight  degree,  but  it  is  in 
this  way  that  the  little  one’s  feet,  sticking  out  from  the 
binding  basket,  get  frozen  and  afterwards  fester  till 
the  tiny  toes  stick  together.  Old  men  and  women,  with 
bent  backs  and  wrinkled  faces,  walk  the  uncomplain- 
ing miles  until  their  old  limbs  refuse  to  carry  them 
further. 

Thus  it  is  by  households  they  come,  old  and  young, 
weak  and  strong,  big  and  little.  . . . 

In  this  way  over  75,000  Koreans  have  entered  during 
the  past  year,  until  the  number  of  Koreans  now  living  in 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


117 


both  the  north  and  western  portions  of  Manchuria  now 
totals  nearly  half  a million.* 

So  much  has  been  said  by  the  Japanese  themselves 
and  by  pro- Japanese  writers  in  America  about  the 
currency  reform  in  Korea  as  a distinct  credit  to  Japa- 
nese administration  that  it  may  not  be  amiss  for  me 
to  say  a word  concerning  it.  After  the  annexation  of 
Korea  by  Japan  in  1910,  the  Japanese  Government 
established  a semi-official  financial  trust  in  Korea  in 
the  Bank  of  Chosen.  This  Government  bank  is  the 
depository  of  all  Government  money,  and  it  stands  in 
relation  to  the  Japanese  Government  as  the  Bank  of 
England  stands  in  relation  to  the  English  Government, 
with  the  difference  that  the  former  has  a stranglehold 
on  the  business  enterprises  of  the  Koreans,  while  the 
latter  promotes  the  business  interests  of  Englishmen. 
This  unofficial  treasury  works  in  cooperation  with 
other  Japanese  banks  in  Korea — the  First  Bank  (Dai 
Ichi  Ginko)  in  Seoul  and  the  Agricultural  and  Indus- 
trial Banks  located  at  the  various  trade  centers 
throughout  the  country.  Korean  banks  are  required 
to  hire  Japanese  “ advisers,”  who  have  the  controlling 
power  in  the  management,  and  their  reserves  are  kept 
in  the  Bank  of  Chosen,  which  cannot  be  taken  out 
without  the  consent  of  the  officials  of  the  said  institu- 
tion. Thus,  Korean  banks  are  under  the  thumbscrew 
of  this  Government  trust. 

All  the  Korean  money  made  of  nickel,  copper, 
bronze  and  alloys  of  silver  and  gold,  to  the  amount  of 

* Report  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 


118 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


about  14,000,000  yen  ($7,000,000),  was  collected  and 
taken  to  Japan,  and  paper  money  substituted  in  the 
form  of  worthless  currency.  As  a matter  of  fact,  all 
currency  in  Korea  is  practically  worthless,  for  it  is  not 
backed  by  any  reserve.  The  Bank  of  Chosen,  with  its 
capital  of  20,000,000  yen,  had  outstanding  notes  at 
the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  October  1,  1918, 
amounting  to  81,317,000  yen.  At  that  time  the  total 
liabilities  of  the  bank  were  114,291,000  yen,  which  in- 
cluded the  81,317,000  yen  outstanding  bank  notes, 
3,000,000  yen  borrowed  and  29,974,000  yen  due  to 
depositors,  while  its  total  assets,  including  loans,  good, 
bad  and  indifferent,  cash  on  hand  and  reserve  did  not 
exceed  76,000,000  yen,  showing  a deficit  of  over  38,- 
000,000  yen.*  The  bank  would  be  closed  in  Japan 
proper,  because  insolvent.  But  in  Korea  it  is  per- 
mitted by  the  Japanese  Government.  No  gold  and 
very  few  silver  yen  are  to  be  found  in  the  country. 

In  order  to  meet  the  demands  for  circulating  me- 
dium less  than  a yen,  the  Bank  of  Chosen  has  issued 
notes  in  denominations  of  ten,  twenty  and  fifty  sen, 
equivalent  in  American  money  to  five,  ten  and  tw'enty- 
five  cents.  Again,  this  is  a special  provision  for  Korea, 
as  currency  for  less  than  a yen  is  not  used  in  Japan 
proper.  The  total  amount  of  this  petty  currency  is- 
sued by  the  Bank  from  June  12,  1916  to  October  1, 
1918  is  1,023,610  yen. 

’ Figtires  taken  from  the  Review  of  Recent  Events  in  Korea, 
issued  by  the  Government  General,  January,  1919,  in  the  Jap- 
anese language,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Japanese  officials 
in  Korea,  pp.  310-312. 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


119 


One  eloquent  evidence  that  the  bank  notes  circulat- 
ing in  Korea  are  worthless  is  the  fact  that  they  are  not 
honoured  in  Japan  proper.  Japanese  claim  Korea  to 
be  an  integral  part  of  their  empire,  as  much  as  the  state 
of  California  is  an  integral  part  of  the  United  States, 
yet  they  flood  the  country  with  currency  which  is 
neither  redeemable  nor  legal  tender  in  Japan. 

In  order  to  insure  absolute  financial  supervision, 
every  wealthy  Korean  is  required  to  have  a Japanese 
steward,  whose  function  is  that  of  the  household  ac- 
countant and  financial  adviser  combined.  This  Japa- 
nese steward  keeps  account  of  the  income  and  expen- 
diture of  the  household.  A Korean  cannot  spend  his 
money  without  the  knowledge  and  sanction  of  this 
steward,  who  is  really  his  master,  as  he  has  the  Gov- 
ernment authority  back  of  him.  Thus,  the  late  Em- 
peror Yi  of  Korea  nominally  received  the  annual  grant 
of  1,500,00  yen  ($750,000)  from  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment after  Korea  had  been  annexed.  But,  in 
reality,  he  had  no  more  money  at  his  disposal  than  a 
Korean  coolie.  If  a wealthy  man  spends  any  signifi- 
cant sum  of  money  without  the  sanction  of  his  Japa- 
nese steward,  his  property  is  liable  to  confiscation  on 
the  charge  that  he  may  be  working  against  the  Govern- 
ment. I know  of  many  cases  where  confiscation  of 
property  has  taken  place  on  the  strength  of  charges 
'made  by  these  Japanese  stewards.  In  1915,  Major 
Cho,  a very  wealthy  Korean,  founded  a Korean  school 
in  Peking  to  educate  Korean  youths  in  China.  The 
Japanese  authorities  brought  charges  against  him  of 
plotting  against  the  Japanese  Government  and  con- 


120 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


fiscated  all  his  property.  Under  the  right  of  extra- 
territoriality, the  Chinese  Government  was  unable  to 
give  the  Korean  its  protection. 

Another  rule  that  runs  in  conjunction  with  Japa- 
nese stewardship  is  the  fact  that  no  Korean  is  per- 
mitted to  draw  from  his  bank  account  more  than  a 
thousand  yen  at  a time.  In  1911  a Korean  financier 
in  Seoul,  by  the  name  of  Yi  Kil  Sang,  had  deposited 
one  million  yen  in  Dai  Ichi  Ginko  (First  Bank).  He 
wanted  to  draw  100,000  yen,  and  was  refused  on  the 
ground  that  no  sufficient  reason  was  given  for  draw- 
ing that  much  money.  He  applied  to  the  authorities, 
only  to  be  brushed  out  by  underlings.  He  got  frantic 
and  made  some  ugly  representations.  He  was  branded 
as  being  a dangerous  character,  and  his  money  was 
confiscated  by  the  Government. 

The  Japanese  explanation  of  this  rule  is  that  if  a 
Korean  were  permitted  to  have  much  cash,  he  might 
plot  against  the  Government.  Perhaps  he  would. 
But  this  regulation  works  economic  discrimination 
against  the  Korean.  If  the  Korean  merchant  needs  a 
thousand  dollars  in  cash  to  buy  merchandise,  he  cannot 
get  the  money  under  this  regulation,  with  the  result 
that  his  chance  to  buy  is  taken  by  his  Japanese  com- 
petitor. The  following  extract  from  a letter,  written 
by  an  American  business  man  in  Korea,  later  in  China, 
furnishes  sufficient  evidence  to  confirm  some  of  these 
economic  restrictions. 

Another  form  of  persecution  which  the  Japanese  are 
practising  on  the  Koreans  will,  I am  sure,  startle  the 
world.  No  rich  Korean  is  permitted  to  spend  his  money 


ECONOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


121 


except  on  the  permission  of  the  Japanese  authorities. 
The  Japanese  Government  has  placed  in  the  household 
of  every  rich  Korean  a Japanese  officer  in  the.  capacity  of 
a butler  and  cashier,  who  has  the  entire  run  of  the  house, 
passing  on  all  the  expenses,  and  no  Korean  can  spend  his 
money  without  the  O.  K.  of  this  Japanese  butler.  I state 
this  on  the  authority  of  the  American  Consul  here  at 
Seoul,  who  told  me  that  an  American  firm  here  has  been 
trying  to  sell  automobiles  to  the  rich  Koreans,  who  want 
to  buy  them,  but  that  the  Japanese  officials  will  not  per- 
mit such  purchases  to  be  made.  I afterwards  confirmed 
this  from  the  American  firm  located  here.  In  addition 
to  this  the  Japanese  authorities  are  hampering  the  Amer- 
ican business  men  in  every  way  possible.* 

The  Japanese  Government  in  Korea  has  carried  out 
systematically  their  policy  of  reducing  the  Korean 
people  to  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  and 
the  Japanese,  backed  by  their  Government,  have  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  the  control  of  every  channel  of  com- 
merce and  industry.  The  Korean  merchant  cannot 
compete  with  the  Japanese  because  of  the  preferential 
treatment  accorded  to  Japanese  nationals.  All  rights 
to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country  are  given  to 
Japanese,  and  every  Korean  enterprise,  even  of  the 
humblest  sort,  is  insidiously  hampered  by  the  with- 
holding of  necessary  licenses  and  similar  obstructions. 
Korea,  at  present,  is  a paradise  for  Japanese  loan 
sharks  and  speculators.  I have  confidential  letters 
from  my  friends  in  Korea  stating  that  the  people  are 
frequently  in  such  financial  straits  as  to  mortgage 
their  property  and  borrow  money  from  the  Japanese 

* Quoted  by  Sidney  Greenbie,  Asia,  September,  1919,  p.  922. 


122 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


speculators  at  an  interest  as  high  as  seventy  per  cent, 
per  annum.  “ The  Koreans  haven’t  the  shadow  of 
a fair  chance  against  subsidized  Japanese  concerns, 
governmental  and  individual,”  writes  Sidney  L. 
Greenbie.  “ Japan  guaranteed  the  open  door  to  all 
foreigners,  but  as  soon  as  she  annexed  Korea  she  shut 
the  doors  to  all  foreigners  for  eighteen  months  to  en- 
trench the  Japanese  and  practically  keep  all  others 
out.  And  now  everything  in  Korea  is  ‘ Government.’  ” 
While  Korea  was  independent,  all  nations  enjoyed 
within  her  boundaries  equal  commercial  privileges. 
The  first  Korean  railway — Seoul-Chemulpo  line — was 
built  and  owned  by  an  American  concern;  the  first 
electric  plant  in  Korea  was  installed  by  the  Bostick  and 
Colbran  Company  in  1895.  This  same  company  built 
the  first  and  largest  electric  road  and  waterworks  in 
Korea.  The  Korean  Customs  Service,  under  the  old 
administration,  was  in  the  hands  of  McLeavy  Brown, 
an  Englishman  of  uncompromising  principles,  who 
helped  maintain  the  open  door  in  Korea.  To-day  Nip- 
ponese tradesmen  have  driven  out  practically  all  other 
nationals  and  have  the  market  to  themselves.  As  an 
instance,  the  British-American  Tobacco  Company, 
which  had  been  one  of  the  most  successful  foreign 
concerns  in  Korea,  was  unable  to  compete  with  the 
Japanese  trust,  which  is  a government  monopoly,  with 
the  result  that  the  company  was  virtually  forced  out 
of  the  country  in  1915.  This  discrimination  against 
foreigners  produces  an  intolerable  condition,  and  not 
only  drives  out  all  foreign  capital  already  invested  in 
Korea  but  prevents  the  coming  of  more  to  develop  the 


ECOIfOMIC  EXPLOITATION 


123 


country.  In  1908,  a Korean  financier,  Lee  Seng- 
Huen  of  Chung  Cliu,  made  an  agreement  with  the 
Parma  Company  of  Italy  to  establish  a Korean-Italian 
import  and  export  firm  in  Korea.  The  agent  of  the 
Parma  Company  went  to  Korea  to  investigate.  When 
he  was  told  by  the  Japanese  authorities  some  of  the 
rules  and  regulations  that  the  new  firm  would  have 
to  face,  the  firm  was  successfully  frightened  away 
from  Korean  soil. 

The  policy  of  discrimination  runs  through  the  en- 
tire system  of  Japanese  rule  in  Korea,  both  govern- 
mental and  private.  The  Korean-American  Electric 
Company,  which  was  formerly  owned  by  the  Bostick 
and  Colbran  firm,  now  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese, 
and  can  be  taken  as  a fair  example  of  Japanese  in- 
dustrial discrimination  against  Koreans.  While  that 
firm  was  in  the  management  of  Americans,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  office  force  was  Korean.  Now,  out  of 
four  hundred  people  employed  in  the  office,  only  four 
are  Koreans,  the  rest  being  Japanese.  The  average 
salary  of  a Japanese  clerk  is  sixty  yen,  while  that  of  a 
Korean  doing  the  same  work  is  only  twenty  yen.  While 
under  the  American  management,  the  car  fare  was 
two  sen;  now  under  Japanese  ownership,  the  car  fare 
is  five  sen,  and  at  the  same  time  the  wages  of  the 
Korean  conductors  has  dropped  from  an  average  of 
thirty  yen  to  twelve  yen  a month.  There  is  not  a 
single  industry  in  Korea  where  this  system  of  dis- 
crimination does  not  appear.  It  may  be  asked  why  do 
the  Koreans  not  start  business  enterprises  of  their  own. 
The  Japanese  Government  does  not  let  them.  Some 


124 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


years  ago  a group  of  Korean  financiers  promoted  the 
plan  of  establishing  a farmers’  bank  in  Taiku  to  check 
the  illegitimate  exploitation  by  the  Bank  of  Chosen  and 
the  Oriental  Development  Company,  but  this  project 
was  promptly  stopped  by  the  Government. 

Writes  an  American  resident  in  Korea: 

Look  at  the  administration  from  whatever  point  you 
will,  the  aim  of  the  Japanese  to  make  Korea  a preserve 
for  Japanese  officialdom  and  exploit  her  for  the  benefit 
of  Japan  and  Japanese  colonists,  stands  out  as  clear  as 
day.  Visit  the  large  harbours,  and  you  will  find  that  the 
land  adjoining  the  docks  is  monopolized  by  the  Japa- 
nese, and  the  Koreans  denied  building  rights  within  the 
Japanese  section.  The  crown  lands,  that  have  been  held 
in  perpetual  lease  by  generations  of  Korean  farmers,  have 
been  sold  by  the  Government,  almost  exclusively  to  Japa- 
nese settlers.  For  this  reason  the  emigration  to  Man- 
churia has  been  increasing  year  by  year.  The  banking 
system  of  the  peninsula  has  been  greatly  extended  and 
improved,  and  is  increasingly  proving  a boon  to  the  na- 
tives. But  it  is  surely  unfortunate  that,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  the  Kanjo  Bank,  all  the  managers  and  nine- 
tenths  of  the  clerks  are  Japanese.  It  is  this  wholesale 
handicapping  of  the  Korean  youth  that  engenders  the 
disaffection  which  has  recently  shown  itself.  This  com- 
ing as  it  does  from  a people  who  are  so  strongly  urging 
their  policy  of  “No  Race  Discrimination,”  is,  to  say  the 
least,  an  aspersion  on  Japanese  sincerity.* 

* The  Korean  Situation,  pp.  115-116. 


VII 


INTELLECTUAL  STRANGULATION 

The  policy  of  the  Japanese  Government  in 
Korea  is  to  consider  the  land  and  the  people 
as  its  property ; therefore,  it  would  be  to  the 
profit  of  Japan  to  keep  the  people  as  ignorant  as  pos- 
sible. The  subject  race  must  forget  their  past,  be 
ignorant  of  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  believe  that 
by  divine  will  they  were  made  to  serve  their  masters. 
They  must  be  made  into  loyal  Japanese  subjects — an 
inferior  brand  of  Japanese.  They  should  be  given 
some  technical  training  so  that  they  may  serve  in- 
telligently as  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water, 
but  anything  beyond  that  is  not  desirable,  but  in  fact, 
dangerous. 

With  this  policy  in  view,  the  intellectual  suppres- 
sion of  the  Korean  people  has  been  as  systematically 
carried  out  as  political  or  economic  subjugation.  One 
of  the  first  things  the  Terauchi  administration  did 
after  the  annexation  was  to  collect  all  books  of  Korean 
history  and  biographies  of  illustrious  Koreans  from 
schools,  libraries  and  private  homes  and  to  burn 
them.*  Priceless  treasures  of  historical  records  were 

’ Letter  written  by  Dr.  Frank  W.  Schofield,  Canadian  medical 
missionary  in  Korea,  to  Captain  J.  W.  Graves  of  Yale  School  of 
Religion,  in  which  Dr.  Schofield  mentions  the  destruction  of 

125 


126 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA’ 


thus  destroyed  by  this  needless  vandalism  of  the  Japa- 
nese. All  Korean  periodical  literature — from  local 
newspapers  to  scientific  journals — has  been  com- 
pletely stamped  out.*  In  true  Japanese  fashion  the 
Government  does  not  say  that  the  Koreans  shall  not 
publish  anything  for  themselves.  But  they  lay  down 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  make  it  impossible  for  a 
Korean  to  start  a publication  of  any  kind.  To  start 
a publication,  whether  a newspaper,  magazine  or  book, 
one  must  obtain  permission  from  the  censor,  which  is 
next  to  impossible.  If  this  difficulty  is  overcome,  the 
publisher  must  deposit  a certain  sum  of  money  with  the 
police  to  meet  the  contingency  of  a fine.  When  an 
issue  of  a magazine  is  to  be  printed,  two  galley  proofs 
must  be  sent  to  the  censor  and  his  stamp  of  approval 
obtained  on  each  page  before  it  can  finally  go  to  the 
press.  If  the  censor  has  overlooked  anything,  the  en- 
tire issue,  after  printing,  is  suppressed.  Every  attempt 
made  by  Koreans  at  publication  fails  because  of  this 

Korean  historical  books  by  Japanese.  This  letter  was  published 
in  Nezi)  Haven  Journal-Courier,  December  30,  IQIQ- 

Nathaniel  PefTer  says  in  his  pamphlet,  The  Truth  About  Korea, 
“ Korean  history  is  not  allowed  to  be  taught  as  such.  Immedi- 
ately after  annexation  all  books  giving  Korean  history  were  con- 
fiscated and  destroyed.  Houses  were  systematically  searched; 
any  literature  telling  of  Korea’s  development  was  burned,  and 
frequently  the  man  in  whose  possession  it  was  found  was  jailed. 
It  is  to-day  a crime  to  own  a Korean  history.  I have  talked  to 
Koreans  who  have  been  beaten  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment 
of  from  fifteen  to  thirty  days  for  committing  the  crime  of  reading 
about  their  own  country.” 

^ Nine  dailies  and  six  monthlies  of  national  importance  were 
abolished  in  1910,  to  say  nothing  of  minor  publications  (Korean 
History,  Chinese  and  Korean  edition,  pp.  228-229). 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  127 


ofificial  control.  This  regulation  applies  to  books  as 
well  as  to  periodicals.  Once  Dr.  James  S.  Gale  trans- 
lated into  Korean  some  of  Kipling’s  jungle  stories  for 
Korean  children.  It  was  suppressed  by  the  censor  be- 
cause it  contained  an  incident  where  the  elephant  re- 
fused to  serve  his  second  master,  inference  being  made 
by  the  censor  that  the  Korean  children  might  be  given 
the  impression  that  they  should  refuse  to  serve  their 
alien  masters — the  Japanese. 

“ At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  1916,”  says  the  Japa- 
nese Government  Report,  “ there  were  twenty  news- 
papers published  in  Chosen,  of  which  eighteen  were 
Japanese,  one  Korean  and  one  English.”  But  they 
were  all  Japanese,  and  three  of  them,  including  the 
last  two,  are  Government  organs.  Concerning  the 
functions  of  the  Seoul  Press,  an  English  organ  of  the 
Government,  I will  elaborate  in  another  chapter.  But 
it  might  not  be  amiss  to  say  a word  concerning  the 
Government  organ,  the  Maiil  Sinpo,  the  only  daily 
published  in  the  Korean  language.  If  it  gives  news 
at  all,  that  news  is  unblushing  Japanese  propaganda, 
so  unblushing  as  to  deceive  none,  not  even  the  densely 
ignorant.  Everybody  in  Korea,  both  foreigners  and 
natives,  knows  that  truth  is  an  unknown  quantity  in 
the  sheet  of  this  Government  mouthpiece. 

The  only  publications  that  are  printed  in  Korean 
are  those  published  by  missionaries,  devoted  entirely 
to  religious  themes.  Even  these  are  hampered  by  the 
censor.  A few  years  ago  The  Christian  Messenger 
published  a sonnet  to  spring.  The  issue  was  sup- 
pressed by  the  censor  on  the  charge  that  the  rebirth 


128 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


of  the  year  implied  the  rebirth  of  a nation  to  the 
Korean  mind,  thereby  inciting  rebellion  against  the 
Government.  “ In  a Tract  Society  pamphlet  issued 
some  time  ago  there  appeared  a sentence  in  which  all 
Christian  Koreans  were  adjured  to  expel  the  devil 
from  within  them.  That  pamphlet  was  suppressed 
with  high  indignation.  Devil?  said  the  official  to  the 
editor,  devil?  When  you  say  devil  you  are  referring 
to  Japan,  you  are  urging  Koreans  to  rise  in  rebellion! 
And  instructions  were  then  issued  to  all  religious  pub- 
lications never  to  allow  the  character  for  devil  to  ap- 
pear in  their  papers  or  books  again.”  * In  more  pro- 
nounced cases  the  Koreans  were  punished.  Thus  a 
college  girl  in  Pyeng  Yang  was  sentenced  to  two  years 
in  the  penitentiary  for  writing  a song  on  Korean  lib- 
erty which  she  sang  at  a demonstration  meeting  in 
Pyeng  Yang,  March,  1919. 

Simultaneously  with  the  suppression  of  the  press 
came  the  dissolution  of  all  Korean  organizations,  po- 
litical and  otherwise.  Japanese  Government  Report 
states  that  “ most  of  the  political  associations  and 
similar  bodies  were  ordered  to  dissolve  themselves  at 
the  time  of  annexation,  as  it  was  deemed  necessary  to 
take  such  a step  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and 
order.  Since  then  there  has  been  no  political  party 
or  association,  as  such,  among  the  Koreans.”  But  as 
a matter  of  fact,  out  of  ten  nationally  known  organi- 
zations dissolved  right  after  the  annexation,  only  one 
was  purely  political.*  The  others  had  as  their  aims 

’Peffer,  The  Truth  About  Korea,  pp.  19-20. 

‘Korean  Historical  Commission,  Korean  History,  pp.  223-228. 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  T29 


the  advancement  of  learning,  the  diffusion  of  common 
knowledge,  the  promotion  of  social  welfare  and  better- 
ment of  business  conditions. 

With  regard  to  the  right  of  assemblage  and  the 
right  of  free  speech,  the  official  Report  says,  “ The 
holding  of  public  meetings  in  connection  with  political 
affairs,  or  the  gathering  of  crowds  out-of-doors,  was 
also  prohibited,  except  open  air  religious  gatherings 
or  school  excursion  parties,  permission  for  which 
might  be  obtained  of  the  police  authorities.”  And  the 
police,  who  are  all-powerful  in  Korea,  have  the  au- 
thority to  decide  as  to  what  kind  of  meetings  they 
should  allow  Koreans  to  have.  One  might  get  an  im- 
pression that  “ religious  gatherings  ” and  “ school  ex- 
cursion parties  ” were  free  from  interference  of  the 
police.  But  “ even  a field  meet,  in  which  two  or  more 
schools  contemplate  participation  ” is  not  allowed.  “ A 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  meeting  has  to  report  the  date,  hour, 
speaker,  topic  for  discussion,  etc.,  beforehand  for  the 
police  approval.  A few  years  ago  such  a purely  aca- 
demic society  as  the  'Law  and  Economics’  Association’ 
was  given  ‘ advice  ’ to  dissolve,  and  who  is  there  that 
can  afford  to  be  heedless  of  such  an  advice?  ” ’ 

Freedom  of  speech?  No  meeting  of  Koreans  can  be 
held  for  any  purpose  without  official  permit.  No  meet- 
ing can  be  held,  even  with  permit,  without  spies.  There 
is  never  a pastor’s  conference,  there  is  never  a church 
service  without  its  spies.  Freedom  of  speech  ? A Korean 
Methodist  pastor  delivered  a sermon  on  the  Kingdom  of 
God — the  case  is  a classic  in  Korea.  He  was  arrested 

‘Hugh  H.  Cyun,  The  Rebirth  of  Korea,  p.  119. 


130 


THE'CASE  OF  KOEEA 


immediately  after  the  service.  He  was  severely  repri- 
manded and  threatened  with  dire  consequences  if  the 
offense  were  repeated.  There  is  only  one  Kingdom,  he 
was  told — the  Kingdom  of  Japan. 

In  the  graduation  exercises  of  a high  school  in  Pyeng 
Yang  a boy  once  chanced  to  mention  Julius  Caesar.  His 
note-books  and  text-books  were  seized  by  the  police ; the 
whole  faculty  was  examined  and  the  principal  was  repri- 
manded for  allowing  dangerous  ideas  to  be  propagated 
in  his  school.’ 

The  Korean  must,  under  no  circumstances,  meddle 
in  politics,  no  matter  how  vitally  that  may  affect  his 
body  and  soul.  He  must  be  deaf,  dumb  and  blind. 
To  have  an  interest  in  the  march  of  human  affairs  in 
the  world  is  a crime  in  Korea.  And  why  should  the 
Korean  take  an  interest  in  the  spirit  of  the  times,  or 
wish  to  participate  in  the  political  affairs  of  his  coun- 
try? All  the  political  thinking  will  be  done  for  them 
by  the  Japanese  masters,  who  are  more  than  equal  to 
the  task.  Thus  runs  the  Japanese  official  mind  in 
Korea.  The  following  statement,  made  by  a British 
resident  of  Korea,  sums  up  the  stifled  intellectual  con- 
dition of  the  Korean: 

Military  occupation  and  military  Government  and  the 
evident  purpose  of  the  administration  to  exploit  Korea 
for  the  benefit  of  Japan  and  the  Japanese  settler — these 
rankle  in  the  sensitive  Korean  mind  and  force  him  to  fix 
his  hope  upon  “ The  Day  ” when  his  “ national  aspira- 
tions shall  be  accorded  the  utmost  satisfaction.”  The 
military  rule  has  not  left  him  even  the  vestige  of  liberty. 
Every  man’s  movements  are  under  the  inquisitorial  scru- 

* Nathaniel  Peffer,  The  Truth  About  Korea,  p.  2d 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  131 


tiny  of  police  and  gendarme.  All  public  meetings  and 
society  organizations  are  governed  by  law.  A meeting  to 
discuss  world  events  is  an  impossibility;  a democratic 
remark  would  inevitably  mean  a clash  with  officialdom. 
Free  speech  is  unknown.  Two  years  ago  three  students 
of  the  Pyeng  Yang  Union  Christian  College  were  ar- 
rested for  making  some  liberal  remarks  in  a valedictory 
address,  and  the  literary  society  of  that  college  was 
forced  to  discontinue.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the 
press  is  muzzled.  No  progressive  young  Korean  can  find 
a medium  for  the  expression  of  his  ideas.  One  of  the 
brightest  of  young  Koreans,  Mr.  Choy  Namsun,  is  cred- 
ited with  having  edited  no  less  than  five  magazines,  one 
after  the  other  of  which  have  been  suppressed.  He  is 
now  in  prison  on  the  charge  of  having  written  the  recent 
Independence  Manifesto.^ 

So  much  has  been  said  by  Japanese  spokesmen  in 
America  that  Korea  had  no  schools  to  speak  of  until 
Japanese  went  there,  and  thaf  the  Japanese  Government 
is  establishing  magnificent  schools  for  the  education  of 
the  Korean  youth.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  truth.  No  other  people  in  the  Orient  laid  greater 
emphasis  on  education  than  did  the  Koreans.  Under 
the  old  regime,  there  was  a school  in  every  hamlet 
and  village,  supported  by  the  people  of  each  locality. 
From  time  immemorial  Korea  had  a Ministry  of  State 
for  Education,  equal  in  rank  with  other  Ministries  in 
the  Cabinet.  Right  after  the  annexation  the  Japanese 
reduced  the  Department  of  Education  to  a Bureau 
and  placed  it  under  the  Department  of  Internal  Affairs. 
To  be  a scholar  in  classical  education  in  old  Korea  was 
the  aim  of  every  ambitious  lad,  as  the  hall  of  honour 
* Congressional  Record,  Vol.  58,  p.  2862,  July  17,  1919. 


132 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


and  glory  could  be  reached  only  through  the  path  of 
classical  scholarship.  Dr.  George  Heber  Jones,  in 
distinguishing  the  three  peoples  in  the  Far  East  by 
traits  peculiar  to  each,  states : 

In  character  the  Korean  people  are  naturally  friendly. 
To  those  who  inspire  them  with  respect  and  confidence, 
they  are  the  soul  of  generous  hospitality.  The  Koreans 
are  intellectually  inclined,  the  national  ideal  is  the 
scholar.  Whereas  in  China  the  cast  of  mind  is  com- 
mercial giving  us  a nation  of  merchants,  and  in  Japan  it 
is  military  giving  us  a nation  of  warriors,  in  Korea  it  is 
literary,  giving  us  a nation  of  scholars.’ 

At  the  time  of  annexation,  modern  schools  were 
being  established  by  Koreans  everywhere  in  the  penin- 
sula. The  people  were  beginning  to  realize  the  neces- 
sity of  modern  education.  They  spared  no  pains  or 
money  in  educating  their  youth.  The  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment Report  admits  that  “ several  years  ago  the 
establishment  of  private  schools  became  popular 
among  the  Koreans,  so  that  one  time  there  were  more 
than  two  thousand  private  schools  in  the  peninsula.” 
But  Japan  does  not  look  with  favour  upon  agencies  that 
have  a tendency  to  enlighten  the  people.  The  admin- 
istration passed  various  educational  regulations  which 
were  tantamount  to  closing  nearly  all  private  schools, 
and  the  Japanizing  educational  program  was  intro- 
duced. The  aim  of  education  for  Koreans  is  set  forth 
in  the  Imperial  Ordinance  number  229,  promulgated 
on  August  23,  1911.  “ The  essential  principle  of  edu- 
cation in  Chosen  shall  be  the  making  of  loyal  and  good 

' Quoted  by  Horace  G.  Underwood,  The  Call  of  Korea,  p.  46= 


PAI  JAI  COLLEGE  (AMERICAN'  MISSION  SCHOOL) 

At  Seoul  Which  Has  Furnished  Its  Quota  of  Prisoners  during  the  Independ- 
ence Movement. 


THE  KOREAN  CHRISTIAN  INSTITUTE  AT  HONOLULU 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  133 


subjects,”  says  the  Ordinance.  This  means  that  every- 
thing else  must  be  sacrificed  for  the  cause  of  making 
loyal  Japanese  subjects  out  of  Koreans.'  And  the 
Japanese  administration  in  Korea  ruthlessly  enforced 
the  policy  of  clubbing  Japanese  patriotism  into  the 
heads  of  Korean  youngsters.  The  following  table  and 
the  subjoining  comment,  submitted  in  a report  pre- 
sented to  Congress  through  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America  by  a British  resident  of 
Korea,  is  self-explanatory. 


Comparative  statistics  of  schools  in  Korea  for  Koreans  and 
Japanese  (with  statistics  of  mission  schools). 
GOVERNMENT  SCHOOES  FOR  KOREANS. 


Kind  of  school. 

Number. 

Scholars. 

Applica- 

tions. 

Elementary  public  school 

High  elementary  school 

Girls’  high  school 

College 

447 

3 

2 

3 

67,629 

537 

164 

277 

2,651 

187 

844 

GOVERNMENT  SCHOOLS  FOR  JAPANESE. 

Kind  of  school. 

Number, 

Scholars. 

Elementary  school 

Middle  school 

Girls’  high  school 

College 

324 

3 

9 

2 

34,100 

375 

526 

91 

CHRISTIAN  SCHOOLS. 

Kind  of  school. 

Number. 

Scholars. 

Elementary  school 

Middle  school 

Girls’  high  school 

College 

601 

17 

14 

4 

22,542 

2,125 

>.352 

250 

134 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Government  schools  for  Koreans: 

Government  subsidies Y.  602,888 

Population 17,500,000 

Government  schools  for  Japanese: 

Government  subsidies Y.  339,660 

Population  300,000 

Christian  schools: 

Government  subsidies None. 

Population  300,000 


The  above  table  show's  that  for  a Korean  population  of  17,500,- 
000  the  Government  has  provided  no  more  than  447  schools,  ca- 
pable of  receiving  no  more  than  67,629  scholars,  or  about  one 
three-hundredths  of  the  population.  Compared  with  this  there 
has  been  provided  for  the  300,000  Japanese  residents  324  schools, 
capable  of  receiving  34,100  scholars,  or  one-ninth  of  the  popula- 
tion. This  does  not  mean  that  the  Koreans  are  unwilling  to 
educate  their  boys.  The  governor  general  reports  the  existence 
of  no  few’er  than  21,800  old-type  village  schools,  which  must 
provide  the  elements  of  education  to  some  500,000  boys.  To  this 
must  be  added  the  22,542  children  attending  Christian  schools. 
But  it  is  the  higher-grade  school  system  that  receives  most 
criticism  from  the  Korean.  Not  only  do  the  Japanese  boys  and 
girls  in  Korea  get  a higher  standard  of  education  than  the  native 
Korean,  but  more  ample  provision  is  made  for  their  numbers. 
Including  the  three  colleges,  there  are  only  seven  schools  for 
Koreans  above  the  common  public-school  grade,  capable  of 
admitting  no  more  than  978  scholars,  whereas  the  Japanese 
children  have  14  schools,  with  a capacity  for  receiving  992 
scholars.  Surely  this  leaves  the  administration  open  to  the 
charge  of  discrimination  and  to  the  further  charge  of  refusing 
the  Korean  the  benefits  of  higher  education.  Here  again  the 
excuse  cannot  be  made  that  Koreans  are  indifferent  to  higher 
education,  for  in  1916  there  were  3,682  applicants  for  the  978 
places.  The  much  suspected  and  maligned  Christian  church  has 
stepped  into  the  breach  and,  with  its  31  academies  and  4 colleges, 
receives  yearly  almost  4,000  students.  If  it  be  argued  that  the 
Government  encourages  young  Koreans  to  take  their  higher 
education  in  Japan,  the  answer  is  that  for  most  young  men  the 
cost  is  prohibitive,  and  that  w'hat  applies  to  the  Korean  }'outh 
should  apply  equally  to  the  sons  of  Japanese  settlers.  Not  until 


INTELLECTUAL  STRANGULATION  136 


the  Government  makes  a fair  provision  from  public  funds  for  the 
native  Koreans  as  she  does  for  the  Japanese  colonists  will  she 
free  herself  from  the  stigma  of  “ race  discrimination  ” within 
her  own  empire.' 

Japanese  administration  requires  that  all  school  in- 
structions be  given  in  the  Japanese  language,  and  that 
the  aim  of  education  is  to  make  loyal  subjects  out  of 
Koreans.  And  yet,  it  is,  indeed,  strange  that  the  ad- 
ministration has  provided  two  school  systems  in  Korea 
— one  for  Japanese  children  and  the  other  for  the  Ko- 
rean. The  Japanese  schools  in  Korea  are  identical 
with  those  in  Japan  proper,  and  therefore,  their  high 
standard  is  beyond  question.  But  the  schools  for  the 
Korean  children,  established  by  the  Government,  are 
not  only  few  in  number,  but  inferior  in  quality.  The 
Japanese  Government  Report  says:  “The  school  age 
for  Koreans  being  eight,  is  two  years  later  than  that 
for  Japanese.  The  period  of  study  for  common  school 
is  four  years,  but  it  may  be  shortened  to  three  years  ac- 
cording to  local  conditions.”  But  the  period  of  study 
for  the  corresponding  school  for  Japanese  is  six  years. 
To  quote  further  from  the  Report,  “ The  higher  com- 
mon school  gives  a liberal  education  to  Korean  boys  of 
not  less  than  twelve  years  of  age  for  a period  of  four 
years.”  But  the  corresponding  Japanese  middle  school 
requires  five  years.  “ This  shows,”  says  Professor 
Hugh  H.  Cynn,  “ that  while  eleven  years  are  provided 
for  the  Japanese  youths  for  primary  and  secondary 
education,  only  eight  years  are  allowed  the  Korean 
youths;  and  the  law  says  that  may  still  be  lowered  to 

^Congressional  Record,  Vol.  58,  No.  47,  p.  2863,  July  17,  1919. 


136 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


seven  years,  while  no  extension  whatsoever  can  law- 
fully be  made  under  any  circumstances.”  * 

Principals  of  all  schools,  except  those  under  direct 
supervision  of  the  missionaries,  are  Japanese,  and 
every  school,  including  those  supported  by  American 
money,  must  have  three  or  more  Japanese  teachers. 
Furthermore,  it  is  required'by  the  Government  that  the 
salary  of  the  Japanese  teachers  shall  be  twice  that  of 
Korean  teachers,  and  Japanese  teachers  are  supplied  to 
various  schools  by  the  Government  through  its  Bureau 
of  Education.  If  the  officially  selected  teacher  for  a 
Korean  private  or  missionary  school  is  efficient  and 
agreeable  to  school  authorities,  they  should  be  thank- 
ful; if  not,  they  have  to  take  him  just  the.  same  and 
pay  the  salary.  And  woe  to  a Korean  school  that  re- 
sents the  presence  of  Japanese  teachers,  for  it  will 
suffer  the  penalty  of  having  its  doors  closed.  Con- 
cerning the  Government  schools,  Koreans  have  less  to 
say.  Of  the  five  Government  high  schools  in  the  coun- 
try eighty-two  teachers  are  Japanese  and  nineteen  Ko- 
rean. And  yet  the  Koreans  are  the  ones  who  pay  the 
taxes  to  support  these  schools. 

Text-books  and  course  of  study  even  in  common 
schools  are  prescribed  by  the  Government.  Here  the 
difficulty  of  adjustment  arose  in  missionary  schools 
which  always  have  conducted  the  curriculum  in  pure 
Korean.  But  this  I will  discuss  in  another  chapter. 
Up  to  this  year,  1920,  all  teachers  were  required  to 
wear  swords  in  schoolrooms.  Think  of  a teacher  of 

* For  fuller  discussion,  see  Hugh  H.  CjTin,  The  Rebirth  of 
Korea,  Chap.  V. 


INTELLECTUAL  STBANGULATION  137 


little  boys  and  girls  of  eight  and  nine  strutting  into  a 
schoolroom  rattling  a sword!  It  is  an  interesting 
commentary  on  Japan’s  lack  of  humour. 

The  text-books  of  history  and  geography,  issued  by 
the  Government,  are  hopelessly  garbled  versions. 
“ The  Japanese  are  taking  it  upon  themselves  to  invent 
even  ethnological  facts,”  says  Sidney  Greenbie.  “ In 
imitation  of  England,  they  are  trying  to  make  it  appear 
to  Koreans  that  Japan  is  their  mother  country,  as 
England  was  to  America,  and  invariably  speak  of  it  in 
that  manner;”  ’ It  is  intended  to  give  a contemptuous 
view  of  Korea  and  a glorified  one  of  Japan.  It  teaches 
that  Korea  is  only  2,000  years  old  instead  of  4,000  and 
is  junior  to  Japan.  Japanese  and  Korean  Emperors 
were  brothers  once  upon  a time,  and  Japan  always  has 
been  the  historic  protector  of  Korea.  Every  trace  of 
civilization  that  Korea  ever  had  was  brought  over 
from  Japan,  as  the  Koreans  have  always  been  savages. 
The  annexation  was  brought  about  by  the  desire  of  the 
Korean  people  as  a reunion  with  the  mother  country; 
it  was  a magnanimous  act  on  the  part  of  Japan  to  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  annexing  Korea. 

This  warping  of  historical  facts  brought  forth  vig- 
orous protest  from  Dr.  William  Elliot  Griffis,  the  dis- 
tinguished American  scholar  on  Oriental  history  and 
civilization.  Says  Dr.  Griffis; 

The  nursery  tales,  accepted  as  sober  facts,  which  pic- 
ture Korea  as  conquered  and  made  tributary  to  Japan, 
are  simply  mirrors  of  Japanese  vanity  and  conceit  with 

I 

* Sidney  Greenbie,  “ Korea  Asserts  Herself,”  Asia,  September, 
1919,  p.  923. 


138 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


no  reflection  in  history.  . . . The  Japanese  are  deeply 
indebted  to  the  Koreans  for  the  introduction  of  writing 
and  literature.  Not  only  did  hundreds  of  Korean  peace- 
ful envoys  and  men  of  the  pen,  the  brush,  the  chisel  and 
the  sutra  enter  the  Mikado’s  domain,  but  along  with  them 
came  refined  and  educated  women,  who  were  governesses 
in  the  noble  families  and  instructors  of  court  ladies  and 
teachers  of  etiquette.* 

When  we  examine  the  course  of  study,  it  is  equally 
ridiculous.  Of  the  thirty-two  hours  a week  instruc- 
tion in  the  Lower  Common  School,  similar  to  Ameri- 
can grammar  school,  eight  hours  are  given  over  to 
learning  the  Japanese  language,  five  to  arithmetic,  five 
to  the  Chinese  characters — which  are  the  basis  of  the 
Japanese  and  Korean  written  languages  as  well  as  the 
Chinese — five  to  gyunnastics,  three  to  industrial  work, 
two  to  agriculture,  two  to  calligraphy,  one  to  music 
and  one  to  what  is  called  ethics,  which  teaches  how  the 
divine  Emperor  of  Japan  should  be  worshipped.  Ko- 
rean children  are  not  allowed  to  study  their  own  lan- 
guage and  history  The  little  history  taught  in  the 
Higher  Common  Schools  is  the  history  of  Japan  with 
Japanese  editing;  by  this  editing  the  whole  world  is  a 
kind  of  offspring  of  Japan,  temporarily  disinherited, 
but  eagerly  awaiting  restoration  to  its  patrimony  under 
the  fatherly  wing  of  the  Heavenly  Ruler,  the  Emperor 
of  Japan.  The  Government-edited  geography  pictures 
the  Japanese  archipelago  as  the  pearl  in  the  oyster  of 
the  universe,  and  Korea  by  being  a part  of  Japan 
shares  the  luster  by  way  of  reflection.  The  Korean 

’ William  Elliot  Griffis,  “Japan’s  Debt  to  Korea,”  Asia,  August, 
1919.  PP-  742-748. 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  139 


child,  under  the  system  of  Japanese  education,  is  kept 
as  ignorant  of  the  history  of  other  nations  or  what  is 
going  on  in  the  world  as  the  child  of  a Hottentot. 

Besides  this  Japanizing  curriculum,  there  is  an  infi- 
nite amount  of  red-tape  in  connection  with  the  school 
which  is  annoying  to  the  Korean,  to  say  the  least.  In 
every  school  there  is  a “ Loyalty  Room  ” in  which  is  a 
display  of  charts  and  diagrams  to  impress  upon  the 
Korean  mind  that  Japan  is  the  oldest  and  the  most 
powerful  nation  in  the  world,  and  that  the  Mikado  is 
really  the  divine  commissioned  ruler  of  all  mankind. 
“ What  struck  me  in  this  Loyalty  Room,”  wrote  the 
late  Walter  E.  Weyl  of  the  New  Republic,  after  his 
visit  to  Korea  in  1917,  “was  the  sedulous  care  with 
which  these  patient  Japanese  masters  seek  to  indoctri- 
nate the  Koreans,  whose  unquiet  independence  they 
have  abolished  and  whom  they  now  wish  to  transform 
into  patriotic  Nipponese.”  ^ On  every  Japanese  holi- 
day the  Korean  children  are  required  to  bow  down  be- 
fore the  tablet  of  the  Mikado  in  the  Loyalty  Room. 
One  Korean  lad,  who  refused  to  worship  the  image  of 
this  Heavenly  Ruler,  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
seven  years. 

To  this  must  be  added  the  irksome  and  petty  official 
interference.  There  is  an  official  inspection  of  the 
schools  every  day,  and  every  conceivable  detail  must 
be  reported  to  the  Government,  which  takes  a large 
part  of  the  teacher’s  time  and  even  more  of  the  prin- 
cipal’s. “ Everything  in  a school  from  the  nature  and 

’ Walter  E.  Weyl,  “ Korea — an  Experiment  in  Denationaliza- 
tion.” Harper^s  Magazine,  February,  1919,  pp.  392-401. 


140 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


price  of  the  chalk  used  to  the  ancestry  of  a teacher 
must  be  reported  and  frequently  inspected.  It  is  this 
that  irks  so  terribly,  especially  the  foreigners  in  the 
Christian  schools.  One  cannot  engage  a teacher  with- 
out official  permission  or  dismiss  him  without  official 
permission ; and  every  teacher’s  record,  in  thrice 
greater  detail  than  on  a passport  application,  must  be 
filed.  One  cannot  raise  the  salary  of  a janitor  without 
official  permission.  One  cannot  buy  twelve  new  black- 
board erasers  without  official  permission.  If  in  the 
Chosen  Christian  College  physics  is  taught  at  nine 
o’clock  and  chemistry  at  ten,  and  the  school  wants  to 
reverse  the  order  for  convenience,  it  cannot  do  so  with- 
out official  permission.  And  perpetually  there  are  in- 
spections.” ^ And  the  slightest  infraction  of  these 
rules  will  be  followed  by  the  closing  of  the  schools. 

Private  schools,  supported  by  private  endowments, 
must  comply  with  these  official  regulations  the  same  as 
Government  schools.  Besides,  the  Japanese  teachers, 
placed  in  the  private  institutions  by  the  Government  at 
the  expense  of  the  school,  serve  as  semi-official  agents 
of  the  Government,  and  their  opinion  and  desire  must 
be  taken  into  consideration  in  whatever  the  school  un- 
dertakes to  do.  And  they  cannot  be  dismissed  by  the 
school  authorities.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  2,000  pri- 
vate schools  of  modern  education  in  1910  dwindled  to 
970  at  the  end  of  the  year  1916? 

It  may  be  asked  why  the  Korean  youth  do  not  go 
abroad  for  education.  In  the  first  place,  the  majority 
of  the  Koreans  are  financially  unable  to  send  their  chil- 
* Nathaniel  Peffer,  The  Truth  About  Korea,  p.  13. 


INTELLECTUAL  STEANGULATION  141 


dren  abroad  for  education;  secondly,  for  those  who 
can  afford  to  educate  their  children  in  America  and  in 
Europe,  the  Japanese  veto  the  plan.  No  passports  are 
issued  to  Koreans  to  go  to  America  or  Europe  to  at- 
tend school.  When  they  go  they  must  escape  the 
country,  risking  the  peril  of  being  caught  and  punished 
by  the  Government.  “ Korea  has  been  Prussianized,” 
says  Tyler  Dennett,  who  has  visited  the  Far  East  twice, 
once  as  a magazine  writer,  and  later  in  connection 
with  the  Centenary  Commission  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  America.  “ Japan  has  even  gone 
so  far  as  to  forbid  Korean  students  to  come  to  the 
United  States  to  finish  their  education.  The  Prussian- 
izing of  Alsace-Lorraine  never  went  to  such  an  extent 
as  that.”  ’ 

It  is  true  that  the  Korean  students  may  go  to  Japan. 
But  there  they  are  again  met  with  difficulties.  They 
must  do  one  of  two  things  before  entering  a Japanese 
college  or  university.  They  must  begin  all  over  again 
in  Japan,  from  grammar  school  up,  and  very  few  boys 
of  sixteen  or  seventeen  are  willing  to  do  that,  or  they 
must  take  entrance  examinations  which  are  made  espe- 
cially difficult  for  Korean  students.  “ Even  if  he 
were  able  to  take  the  entrance  examination  and  quali- 
fied himself,  he  is  given  only  a certificate  when  he  com- 
pletes the  course,  for  the  reason  that  he  does  not  hold 
the  diploma  from  the  next  lower  school  in  the  same 
system.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  holder  of  a 
certificate  does  not  enjoy  any  of  the  privileges  that  a 

’ Tyler  Dennett,  “ The  Road  to  Peace,  via  China,”  Outlook, 
117:168-169,  October  3,  1917. 


142 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


regular  diploma  carries.”  ’ Despite  all  his  discrimi- 
nation and  handicap,  there  are  several  thousand  Ko- 
rean students  in  Japan,  who  are  holding  more  than 
their  own  in  Japanese  schools.  The  fact  that  the 
Government-General  sends  a number  of  Korean  stu- 
dents to  Japan  is  hardly  worth  mentioning,  as  it  is 
done  to  show  to  the  Western  public  that  the  Japanese 
Government  is  encouraging  education  among  Koreans. 
These  Government  students  are  picked  not  on  scholas- 
tic merit,  nor  from  deserving  students  who  need  finan- 
cial aid ; but  from  the  sons  of  well-to-do  Koreans  who 
are  not  openly  antagonistic  to  Japanese  rule.  Their 
schools  and  the  course  of  study  are  prescribed  by  the 
Government,  and  they  have  no  choice  of  their  own. 
As  a rule  they  are  directed  to  industrial  schools,  but 
are  barred  from  institutions  of  higher  learning. 

Taking  all  these  things  into  consideration,  is  it  any 
wonder  that  the  Koreans  are  convinced  that  the  Japa- 
nese educational  system  in  Korea  is  to  keep  the  Korean 
people  as  ignorant  as  possible  ? Their  language  is  for- 
bidden; their  history  is  forgotten;  their  civilization  is 
scorned ; of  the  outer  world  they  are  allowed  to  know 
nothing;  all  the  vast  body  of  human  knowledge  is 
locked  to  them.  Korean  children  must  be  given  just 
enough  training  to  enable  them  to  be  intelligent  serv- 
ants of  the  Japanese  ia  the  future.  Every  Korean 
child  knows  it,  so  the  youngsters  gather  in  little  groups 
of  three  and  four  after  school  to  study  the  Korean  lan- 
guage. Indeed,  the  earnestness  with  which  the  Ko- 
rean children  cling  to  their  own  nationality  is  an  inter- 
^Hugh  H.  Cynn,  The  Rebirth  of  Korea,  pp.  107-108. 


INTELLECTUAL  STRANGULATION  143 


esting  study,  if  not  an  inspiring  lesson.  Equally  inter- 
esting is  the  way  in  which  the  Japanese  Government 
covers  up  the  suppression  of  the  Korean  mind,  and 
tries  to  assure  the  outside  world  that  the  Koreans  are 
being  “ civilized  ” under  the  intelligent  guidance  of 
Japan.  The  following  excerpt  from  the  pen  of  an 
American  journalist  will  give  the  reader  a clearer  idea 
of  Japan’s  educational  program  in  Korea: 

Perhaps  Japan  does  considerably  more  “ viewing  with 
alarm  ” than  “ pointing  with  pride  ” in  Korea,  but  when- 
ever she  does  choose  to  point,  she  picks  out  the  Govern- 
ment school  system.  Knowing  the  appeal  that  free  educa- 
tion has  for  every  American,  Japanese  officials  always 
lay  considerable  stress  on  this  phase  of  the  administra- 
tion. Though  one  or  two  of  the  larger  schools  in  Seoul 
are  not  bad  to  look  upon,  a little  study  proves  that  the 
success  of  the  educational  system  is  chiefly  mythical. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Japanese  have  placed  most  of  the 
emphasis  upon  vocational  training — regarded  as  a deadly 
insult  by  the  Koreans,  who,  it  must  be  remembered,  were 
once  the  leading  scholars  of  the  Orient  and  the  tutors  of 
the  Japanese.  Secondly,  they  do  not  admit  any  child  to 
school  under  eight  years  of  age,  which  means  that  two 
school  years  are  wasted — a serious  matter  when  children 
are  obliged  to  complete  their  education  while  still  very 
young. 

Comparatively  few  of  the  schools  provide  for  more 
than  four  years  of  work.  From  a source  which  is  un- 
doubtedly reliable  but  which  for  obvious  reasons  is  un- 
quotable, we  learned  that  only  one  Korean  child  out  of 
ten  of  school  age  is  actually  in  school;  and  that  though 
the  Japanese  make  up  but  two  per  cent,  of  the  resident 
population,  their  children  absorb  more  than  sixty  per  cent, 
of  the  educational  funds. 


144 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


From  first  to  last,  Japanese  administration  of  Korea 
has  been  a tragedy  of  errors.  Japan  made  the  initial 
mistake  of  cutting  her  policy  of  subjugation  after  a Von 
Bissing  pattern.  She  also  seemed  to  copy  that  peculiar 
German  near-sightedness  which  makes  it  impossible  to 
discover  the  features  of  another’s  psychology.  If  Japa- 
nese officials  had  lain  awake  nights  trying  to  think  up 
ways  of  making  themselves  unpopular  with  the  Koreans, 
they  could  not  have  succeeded  more  completely.’ 

* Elsie  McCormick,  “ The  Iron  Hand  in  Korea,”  Christian 
Herald  (New  York),  Vol.  43,  pp.  469,  .493,  April  17,  1920. 


VIII 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 

Morality  is  a relative  term ; its  interpreta- 
tion shifts  with  different  people  and  with 
different  ages.  Thus,  what  is  condoned  in 
one  age  becomes  unpardonable  in  another,  and  what 
is  unmoral  with  one  people  is  quite  often  moral  with 
others.  In  weighing  the  moral  standards  of  a people, 
therefore,  we  should  weigh  them  on  the  scale  of  their 
traditional  culture,  and  not  on  that  of  our  own.  It  is 
not  command  and  obedience,  but  problem  and  free 
choice  that  makes  true  morality.  Thus,  every  people 
should  have  a large  latitude  to  decide  for  itself  as  to 
what  is  moral  and  what  is  not.  But  when  a people 
whose  social  standards  are  decidedly  immoral  in  the 
opinion  of  the  enlightened  world  attempts  to  force  its 
ethical  code  upon  an  unwilling  race,  the  matter  be- 
comes serious. 

Every  nation  has  a certain  amount  of  social  evil  to 
combat.  But  in  Japan  social  evil  is  not  combatted; 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  encouraged  by  leaders  of  thought 
and  of  state  affairs.  Thus,  it  is  not  mere  assertion  to 
state  that  Japan  is  the  most  immoral  nation  in  the 
world.  The  Japanese  principal  of  a large  normal 
school  is  reported  as  openly  stating  to  Mr.  Galen  W. 

*45 


146 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Fisher,  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Tokyo,  that 
he  not  only  patronized  houses  of  ill  fame  himself,  but 
that  he  advised  his  teachers  to  do  so,  and  that  he  even 
gave  them  tickets  so  that  at  the  end  of  each  month  the 
bills  would  be  sent  to  him  for  payment  and  deduction 
made  from  their  salaries.  One  hundred  and  seven 
districts  were  investigated  by  Captain  Bechel,  a travel- 
ler in  Japan  for  seventeen  years.  He  found  ninety-six 
of  them  pestilently  immoral.  He  reports  that  phallic 
worship  is  still  practised  in  many  Buddhist  shrines,  and 
that  in  some  districts  almost  all  the  adults  are  tainted 
with  immorality.  He  speaks  of  a principal  of  a school 
who  had  several  paramours  with  the  knowledge  of 
parents  and  children  alike;  of  a member  of  Parlia- 
ment who  publicly  had  two  concubines;  of  a member 
of  a Provisional  Assembly  who  had  two  wives  and  two 
homes,  with  children  in  each,  and  who  travelled  with 
geisha;  and  of  a soncho  (chief  of  village)  who  sold 
a girl  of  twelve  years,  whose  parents  could  not  support 
her,  for  ten  yen,  because  she  might  become  a charge 
on  the  village." 

Ernest  W.  Clement,  a long  resident  of  Japan,  who  is 
familiar  with  the  social  conditions  of  Japan,  writes  in 
his  Handbook  of  Modern  Japan: 

As  is  well  known,  the  social  evil  is  licensed,  and  there- 
fore legalized,  in  Japan;  it  is  not  merely  not  condemned 
but  actually  condoned.  In  Old  Japan,  the  young  girl  will- 

^Japanese  Young  Men  in  War  and  Peace,  published  by  the 
International  Committee  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  New  York,  and 
“Japan’s  Need  and  Response,”  in  the  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World,  January,  1917,  pp.  5-6. 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


147 


ing  to  sell  herself  to  a life  of  shame  to  relieve  the  poverty 
and  distress  of  her  parents,  -would  be  considered  virtuous, 
because  filial  piety  was  regarded  as  a higher  virtue  than 
personal  chastity.  Nor  would  the  parents  who  accepted 
such  relief  be  severely  condemned,  because  the  welfare 
of  the  family  was  more  important  than  the  condition 
of  the  individual.  And  even  in  Modern  Japan,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law,  it  is  no  crime  to  visit  a licensed  house  of 
ill  fame ; and  visitors  to  such  places  hand  in  their  cards 
and  have  their  names  registered  just  as  if  they  were  at- 
tending an  ordinary  public  function.  Nay,  more,  an  ex- 
president of  the  Imperial  University  and  one  of  the  lead- 
ing philosophers  and  educators  of  the  day,  has  come  out 
in  public  print  and  affirmed  that  from  the  standpoint 
of  science  and  philosophy,  he  can  see  no  evil  in  prostitu- 
tion per  se} 

It  was  said  of  the  late  Prince  Ito,  the  most  en- 
lightened and  eminent  statesman  of  modern  Japan, 
that  he  engaged  himself  in  grave  state  affairs  in  the 
daytime  and  spent  the  night  in  vice.  While  he  was 
Premier,  a foreign  missionary  reproved  him  for  set- 
ting a bad  example  to  the  younger  generation.  The 
Premier  replied;  “ I would  rather  give  up  the  post  of 
the  premier,  abandon  the  leadership  of  my  party,  and 
lose  the  respect  of  my  people  than  to  forego  my  li- 
centious pleasures.” 

Although  separated  only  by  a strait,  the  Korean 
people  had  their  social  standards  founded  on  the  Con- 
fucian  moral  codes,  and  even  in  the  most  profligate 
period  of  their  history,  they  never  sank  to  the  level 
of  moral  degeneracy  that  the  Japanese  are  now  and 
have  been  in,  during  the  two  thousand  years  of  their 
Handbook  of  Modern  Japan,  pp.  166-167. 


148 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


history.  Du  Halde,  the  great  geographer  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  described  the  people  of  Korea  as 
“ generally  well  made  and  of  sweet  and  tractable  dis- 
position; they  understand  the  Chinese  language,  de- 
light in  learning  and  are  given  to  music  and  dancing.” 
He  further  told  that  their  manners  were  “ so  well 
regulated  that  theft  and  adultery  were  crimes  un- 
known among  them,  so  that  there  was  no  occasion  to 
shut  street  doors  at  night;  and  although  the  revolu- 
tions which  are  fatal  to  all  states  may  have  somewhat 
changed  this  former  innocence,  yet  they  have  still 
enough  of  it  left  to  be  a pattern  to  other  nations.” 
Before  the  influx  of  Japanese  into  Korea,  there  were 
no  houses  of  ill  fame  in  the  country,  although  there 
were  about  five  hundred  kesang  (dancing  girls)  mostly 
in  Seoul,  the  largest  city  in  Korea.  From  their  early 
childhood  the  kesang  were  instructed  in  music  and 
dancing,  and  as  a class  they  were  remarkably  similar 
to  the  American  chorus  girls.  The  reputations  of 
some  of  these  girls  were  considered  questionable,  but 
their  circle  was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  Seoul, 
comparatively  speaking,  the  most  immoral  city  in 
Korea.  With  the  coming  of  the  Japanese,  the  pro- 
fession of  kesang — to  entertain  people  at  social  func- 
tions with  their  music  and  dancing — faded  away,  and 
the  country  has  been  flooded  with  licensed  prostitutes. 
Japanese  not  only  brought  with  them  thousands  of 
their  prostitutes,  but  they  have  established  Japanese 
and  Korean  brothels  in  every  city  in  the  country. 
They  occupy  the  most  prominent  and  attractive  parts 
of  the  city,  quite  often  placed  in  the  residential  dis- 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


149 


tricts  so  as  to  drive  out  the  sensitive  people,  who  are 
forced  to  sell  their  property  to  Japanese  at  nominal 
prices.  Young  and  ignorant  Korean  girls  are  cap- 
tured by  Japanese  vultures,  often  with  the  aid  of  the 
police,  to  lead  the  life  of  shame.  In  this  manner  Japan 
has  propagated  the  “ Red  Light  System  ” in  Korea  on 
an  extensive  scale.  In  Seoul  alone  $500,000  has  been 
spent  in  establishing  a superb  district.  Dr.  Frank  W. 
Schofield,  a Canadian  physician  at  the  Union  Sever- 
ance Hospital,  who  has  made  a thorough  investigation 
of  the  system  and  made  thousands  of  blood  tests,  sub- 
mits the  following  figures  with  the  accompanying  tes- 
timony that  “ in  no  nation  are  the  women  as  immoral 
as  they  are  in  Japan.” 


Toien  Prostitute  Ratio,  Korean  Prostitute  Ratio,  Japanese 

Songdo I to  894  males  i to  60  males 

Choonchun i to  558  males  i to  62  males 

Seoul I to  228  males  i to  60  males’ 


From  the  above  table  it  is  evident  that  immorality 
among  the  Japanese  in  Korea  is  about  uniform  in 
every  district,  but  among  the  Koreans  the  figures  in- 
crease in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  “ Japanization  ” 
of  the  community.  Seoul  is  the  most  thoroughly 
“ Japanized  ” city  in  Korea,  hence  the  high  figures  of 
prostitute  ratio  to  its  population.  Dr.  Arthur  Judson 
Brown,  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  in  re- 
cording his  observations  of  social  evils  of  the  Japanese 

’ Frank  W.  Schofield,  “ What  Korea  Suffers  from  Japan.”  The 
Christian  Register,  September  16,  1920,  pp.  914-915. 


160 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Empire,  makes  the  following  statement  on  the  immoral 
conditions  of  Korea  under  Japan: 

Conditions  substantially  similar,  although  of  course 
on  a smaller  scale,  exist  in  practically  every  Japanese 
colony  in  Korea.  Even  where  the  number  of  Japanese 
is  very  small,  it  includes  prostitutes.  The  evil  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  “Red  Light”  districts.  Geisha  (dancing 
girls)  are  scattered  about  every  considerable  town,  and 
waitresses  in  many  of  the  inns,  restaurants  and  drinking 
shops  are  well  understood  to  be  prostitutes,  although  of 
course  not  all  of  them  are.  That  the  authorities  know 
the  facts  is  apparent  from  statistics  which  I obtained 
from  official  sources  during  my  second  visit,  and  which 
listed  immoral  women  in  Seoul  and  Pyeng  Yang  as 
“ prostitutes,”  “ geisha,”  and  “ waitresses  in  inns,  saloons 
and  restaurants.”  The  official  records  also  showed  that 
there  was  a monthly  tax  collected  from  prostitutes  and 
geisha.  The  number  of  Korean  prostitutes  reported  by 
the  authorities  in  Seoul  was  also  given  me,  and  a com- 
parison of  the  figures  showed  that  one  person  in  thirty- 
one  of  the  Japanese  population  of  the  capital  was  then 
classified  as  immoral,  and  that  only  one  in  730  of  the 
Korean  population  was  so  classified.  . . . 

Racial  distinctions  are  obliterated  by  this  social  evil. 
Koreans  are  not  only  openly  solicited  to  vice,  but  I was 
reliably  informed  that  it  is  not  uncommon  for  Japanese 
panderers  to  conduct  small  travelling  parties  of  prosti- 
tutes from  village  to  village  in  the  country  districts.  The 
crowning  outrage  I could  not  bring  myself  to  believe  if 
the  editor  of  the  Korea  Reinew  had  not  declared  that 
“ it  is  so  fully  proved  both  by  foreign  and  native  wit- 
nesses that  it  is  beyond  dispute.  In  a certain  town  in 
Korea,  the  military  quartered  soldiers  in  some  Korean 
houses,  and  in  others  Japanese  prostitutes.  In  a number 
of  instances,  Korean  Christians  were  compelled  to  give 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


161 


up  part  of  their  houses  to  these  prostitutes  who  carried 
on  their  nefarious  business  on  the  premises.  We  made 
careful  inquiries  about  this  unspeakable  outrage  on  de- 
cency, and  the  fact  was  verified  in  the  positive  manner.”  ‘ 

Indeed,  a Korean  “ rebel  ” schoolgirl  made  a 
poignant  condemnation  of  the  Japanese  vice  system 
when  she  said  in  her  trial  before  the  judge:  “You 
have  taken  away  our  private  schools  and  given  us 
public  brothels.  A teacher’s  license  is  obtained  with 
the  greatest  of  difficulty;  a prostitute’s  license  with  the 
greatest  of  ease.” 

Another  consequence  of  the  Japanese  military  oc- 
cupation of  Korea  is  the  morphine  peddlers  sanctioned 
and  protected  by  the  Japanese  authorities.  While 
Korea  was  independent,  opium  smuggling  was  pro- 
hibited under  the  death  penalty,  and  the  country  was 
free  from  opium  fiends,  wdth  the  exception  of  a few 
secret  cases  in  Seoul.  But  no  sooner  had  the  Japa- 
nese occupied  the  country  than  it  was  infested  by  mor- 
phine mongers  from  Japan.  F.  A.  McKenzie,  a war 
correspondent  of  the  London  Daily  Mail,  in  recording 
his  personal  observations  in  Korea  shortly  after  the 
Japanese  occupation,  says: 

One  act  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  surprised  most  of 
those  who  knew  them  best.  In  Japan  itself  opium 
smoking  is  prohibited  under  the  heaviest  penalties,  and 
elaborate  precautions  are  taken  to  shut  opium,  in  any  of 
its  forms,  out  of  the  country.  Strict  anti-opium  laws 
were  also  enforced  in  Korea  under  the  old  administra- 
tion. The  Japanese,  however,  now  permit  numbers  of 

A.  J.  Brown,  The  Mastery  of  the  Far  East,  pp.  383-384. 


152 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


their  people  to  travel  through  the  interior  of  Korea  sell- 
ing morphia  to  the  natives.  In  the  northwest  in  particu- 
lar this  caused  quite  a wave  of  morphia-mania.‘ 

The  Japanese  Government  in  Korea,  moved  by  the 
desire  of  the  revenue  to  be  derived  from  opium  traffic 
and  of  utilizing  this  agency  to  degenerate  the  native 
population,  steadily  encouraged  the  use  of  opium  in 
all  of  its  baneful  forms.  Finally,  it  was  thought  by 
the  Japanese  that  the  business  would  be  more  lucra- 
tive if  the  poppy  were  cultivated  in  Korea.  They  in- 
troduced the  poppy  and  encouraged  the  Korean  and 
Japanese  farmers  to  cultivate  it.  “ The  Government’s 
annual  budget  for  promoting  poppy  culture  in  Korea 
is  $182,000.”  ’ 

With  this  Government  subsidy  and  encouragement 
back  of  it,  the  poppy  culture  in  Korea  has  increased 
to  alarming  proportions.  In  the  summer  of  1917,  Rev. 
E.  W.  Thwing,  the  Oriental  Secretary  of  the  Inter- 
national Reform  Bureau,  of  Peking,  China,  made  a 
trip  to  Korea  investigating  the  morphia-evil  in  the 
peninsula.  His  report  contained  the  following: 

This  spring  I heard  rumours  that  opium  was  being 
grown  in  Korea  to  be  sold  to  the  Chinese.  I could  not 
find  out  as  to  the  truth  of  the  report.  After  all  that 
China  had  accomplished,  it  did  not  seem  possible  that 
Japan  would  begin  the  cultivation  of  this  drug  which  has 
become  an  international  danger.  I went  to  Korea  this 
summer  to  make  investigations.  The  reports  proved  too 

*F.  A.  McKenzie,  The  Tragedy  of  Korea,  p.  114. 

* The  Bulletin  of  International  Reform  Bureau,  Washington, 
August  15,  1919. 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


163 


true.  I met  Koreans  who  had  seen  it  growing.  One 
missionary  counted  thirteen  fields  of  growing  opium 
poppy  in  his  district.  I was  told  that  Japanese  officials 
had  provided  the  seeds  and  had  encouraged  the  Koreans 
to  plant  opium,  saying  that  they  would  make  much 
money.’ 

“ In  Korea  poppy  fields  are  being  extended  with  in- 
creasing rapidity,  one  missionary  reporting  a thousand 
acres  in  his  district,”  says  a religious  weekly  of  New  York. 
The  “ New  Opium  Ordinance  for  Korea  ” practically 
established  a Japanese  Government  monopoly  in  opium 
traffic.  In  this  Ordinance,  morphia  stands  out  as  the 
main  drug  wanted,  and  Article  IV  stipulates  that  if  the 
opium  brought  in  by  the  Korean  farmers  does  not  con- 
tain the  required  amount  of  morphia,  the  opium  shall  be 
destroyed  without  payment.  “ Another  portion  of  the 
regulation  states  that  the  opium  sold  is  to  be  for  the 
manufacture  of  morphia  as  well  as  other  derivatives, 
and  indicates  the  importance  of  the  morphine  to  be  se- 
cured. . . . The  new  regulations  for  Korea  put  the 
control  of  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  drug  men  and 
police,  even  though  these  men  have  been  the  greatest  of- 
fenders in  the  past.  . . . Many  believe  that  this  new 

opium  policy  for  Korea  will  bring  much  danger,  and 
large  discredit,  to  Japan.”  ’ 

Dr.  Arthur  Judson  Brown  sums  up  the  morphine 
evil  in  Korea  as  follows: 

The  situation  is  serious  in  Korea.  Most  of  the 
Koreans  are  not  sensitive  about  it,  but  the  more  en- 
lightened are,  and  every  real  friend  of  the  people  is  dis- 
tressed by  it.  The  traffic  is  contrary  to  Japanese  law,  but 

^Peking  Gazette,  October  3,  1917. 

*The  Continent  (New  York),  October  2,  1919. 


164 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


it  is  conducted  more  or  less  openly  by  Japanese,  partic- 
ularly in  the  country  districts,  where  peddlers  spread 
the  morphine  and  opium  habit  among  multitudes  of 
Koreans.  The  Japanese  strictly  enforce  their  law  in 
Japan,  and  magistrates  in  Korea  will  usually  punish  a 
trafficker  if  the  case  is  brought  so  directly  to  their  notice 
that  they  cannot  escape  responsibility;  but  they  will  sel- 
dom press  matters  unless  compelled  to  do  so,  and  the 
effort  to  make  them  is  apt  to  be  impleasant.  Thousands 
of  Koreans  are  learning  the  use  of  the  morphine  syringe 
from  these  Japanese  itinerant  venders.  . . . Every 

hospital  in  Korea  now  has  to  treat  opium  and  morphine 
fiends.  Opium  smoking  was  brought  to  Korea  by  the 
Chinese  long  ago,  but  the  evil  has  never  been  so  great 
as  it  is  now.  Protests  of  missionaries  are  beginning  to 
make  some  impression,  but  the  demoralization  of  Koreans 
continues.’ 

Whatever  may  be  the  anti-opium  regulations  framed 
by  the  Japanese  for  Korea,  they  are  but  designed  to 
show  to  foreigners  when  any  such  call  the  attention 
of  the  officials  to  the  traffic;  they  are  never  intended 
to  be  enforced.  By  officially  encouraging  opium  traffic 
in  Korea,  the  Japanese  administration  obtains  what  it 
aims  at:  (1)  considerable  revenue;  (2)  steady  but 
quiet  annihilation  of  the  Korean  population  by  sys- 
tematic poisoning. 

The  problem  of  liquor,  though  not  as  baneful  as  that 
of  opium  and  morphine,  deserves  mention.  As  old  as 
Korean  history  was  the  custom  that  every  town  should 
exercise  municipal  jurisdiction  over  liquor  traffic. 
Nearly  every  large  city,  under  the  old  Government, 
had  saloons,  but  seldom,  if  ever,  did  a village  possess 
*A.  J.  Brown,  The  Mastery  of  the  Far  East,  p.  39a 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


155 


a drinking  place.  Under  Japanese  rule,  all  this  has 
been  swept  aside,  and  saloons  are  licensed  in  every 
town  and  village  regardless  of  the  wishes  of  the  in- 
habitants. The  petition  from  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  Protestant  Evangelical  Missions  in  Korea,  pre- 
sented to  the  Governor-General,  Admiral  Saito,  on 
September  29,  1919,  voices  its  protest  against  the  offi- 
cial licensing  of  liquor  traffic  in  Korea,  as  follows; 

We  request,  also,  the  reformation  of  the  laws  con- 
cerning the  liquor  traffic,  and  ask  the  restoration  of  the 
power  of  local  option  which  existed  under  the  former 
Korean  administration,  by  which  the  people  of  a village 
were  able  to  prohibit  the  establishment  of  saloons  in  their 
vicinity.  Now,  under  police  protection,  licenses  are  is- 
sued, and  saloons  established  against  the  wishes  of  the 
people. 

There  are  a number  of  minor  social  evils  in  connec- 
tion with  the  above  named.  Cabaret  houses  and  drink- 
ing shops  were  never  as  numerous  in  Korea  as  they 
are  now.  Cigarette  smoking  among  boys  has,  like- 
wise, been  increased.  Koreans  have  used  tobacco  for 
many  centuries,  but  cigarettes  were  unknown  until  they 
were  brought  in  by  the  Japanese.  It  was  a grave 
breach  of  etiquette,  according  to  the  time-honoured 
custom  in  Korea,  for  a minor  to  smoke  in  the  presence 
of  his  elders.  To-day,  all  these  customs  are  being 
swept  away,  and  no  substitutes  have  been  introduced. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  boys  of  nine  and  ten  smok- 
ing cigarettes  in  the  street.  Some  years  ago.  Pastor 
Kil  of  Pyeng  Yang  was  arrested  and  punished  for 
preaching  against  the  evil  of  cigarette  smoking  among 


166 


THE  CASE  OP  KOEEA 


boys.  Dr.  William  T,  Ellis,  the  well-known  religious 
writer  in  America,  was  in  Korea  at  that  time,  and  he 
gives  the  analysis  of  the  charge  as  follows: 

One  of  the  most  absurd  of  the  recent  arrests  reported 
from  North  Korea — I have  the  story  from  the  lips  of  a 
Presbyterian  missionary — was  that  of  Pastor  Kil,  the 
great  minister  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Pyeng  Yang,  a church  which  has  “ swarmed  ” forty-one 
times.  Pastor  Kil  was  among  those  arrested  for  treason. 
The  charge,  analyzed,  was  that  he  had  advised  Christian 
boys  not  to  smoke  cigarettes.  The  manufacture  of  cig- 
arettes, reasoned  the  Japanese,  is  a Government  monop- 
oly; to  speak  against  their  use  is  to  injure  a Government 
institution;  to  injure  a Government  institution  is  to  work 
against  the  Government;  to  work  against  the  Govern- 
ment is  treason;  and  therefore.  Pastor  Kil  was  charged 
with  treason ! * 

Not  so  devitalizing  to  the  Korean  stamina  as  the 
evils  mentioned  above,  yet  tending  to  lower  the  social 
morals  of  the  country  is  the  public  bath.  In  Japan 
men  and  women  bathe  together  in  public  bath  houses. 
This  custom  has  been  introduced  into  Korea  by  Japa- 
nese, and  public  bath  houses  have  been  established  in 
every  Korean  city.  Of  course,  no  Korean  women  ever 
resort  to  these  places.  But  the  very  existence  of  them 
is  demoralizing  to  society.  However,  this  evil  is  not 
without  its  compensating  benefit  to  the  Korean,  for  it 
helps  him  to  realize  that  his  culture  is  decidedly  higher 
than  that  of  his  conqueror.  Dr.  James  Gale,  a British 
missionary  in  Korea  for  over  thirty  years,  considers 

* William  T.  Ellis,  “Christianity’s  Fiery  Trial  in  Korea,"  The 
Continent,  June  27,  1912,  p.  897. 


A Typical  Korean  Church  and  Its  Congregation — Simple  and  Lowly,  but 
Faithful  and  Active. 


One  of  Many  Thousands  of  Japanese  Houses  of  Ill-fame  Fostered  by  the 
Japanese  Government  in  Korea  to  Corrupt  the  Morals  of  Korean  Young  Men. 

TWO  COUNTERACTING  SOCIAL  FORCES  IN  KOREA 


IMPOSITION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 


157 


this  as  one  of  the  points  of  contrast  between  the 
Korean  and  the  Japanese  character. 

Says  Dr.  Gale: 

The  Korean  guards  his  person  and  his  women  folk 
from  the  public  eye  with  the  most  rigid  exactitude.  The 
Japanese,  on  the  other  hand,  goes  nude  without  any 
thought  of  obscenity,  and  his  men  and  women  bathe  to- 
gether in  a public  bath  with  all  the  innocence  of  Botti- 
celli’s Eve.  This  to  the  Korean  is  the  limit  of  indecency 
and  renders  him  wholly  incapable  of  ever  understanding 
the  Japanese  point  of  view.* 

In  fairness  to  the  Japanese,  it  must  be  said  that  they 
did  not  bring  the  public  bath  to  Korea  with  the  delib- 
erate intention  of  destroying  Korean  character,  as  in 
the  case  of  opium  and  other  vices  mentioned.  It  is 
their  national  custom  which  they  have  brought  with 
them  and  are  forcing  upon  the  Korean  people  as  a part 
of  their  Japanizing  program.  It,  none  the  less,  has 
its  demoralizing  effect  in  the  community. 

Japan  is  a nation  of  copyists.  With  quick  percep- 
tion and  marvellous  ability  to  imitate,  the  Japanese 
have  copied  from  America  and  Europe  all  that  is  ex- 
pedient and  efficacious.  But,  so  far,  they  have  sin- 
gularly failed  to  assimilate  any  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Western  civilization.  Thus,  in  material 
progress — especially  in  their  army  and  navy — Japan 
is  one  of  the  “ Big  Five  ” powers  of  the  world.  But  in 
the  attainments  of  the  finer  qualities  of  civilization, 
which  we  call  culture,  Japan  is  the  most  backward  of 

’James  S.  Gale,  “The  Missionary  Outlook  in  Korea,”  The 
Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  February,  1920,  p.  118. 


168 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


modern  nations.  She  has  had  her  political  and  in- 
dustrial revolutions,  but  her  moral  and  spiritual  revo- 
lutions are  yet  to  come.  And,  until  she  has  gone 
through  a reformation  of  the  conscience,  she  cannot 
long  hold  a position  in  the  family  of  enlightened  na- 
tions. 

“ Men  still  cry  for  special  revolutions,”  says  Hen- 
rik Ibsen,  “ for  political  revolutions  are  but  trumpery 
and  external.  It  is  the  human  soul  that  must  revolt.” 


IX 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

At  a banquet  given  in  honour  of  Bishop  and 
Mrs.  Herbert  Welch  at  Columbus,  Ohio, 
where  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  held 
the  famous  Centenary  Celebration  during  July  and 
August,  1919,  a Korean  leader  spoke  on  the  mission 
of  the  Korean  race  in  the  Far  East.  “ There  are  two 
things  we  hope  to  accomplish,”  he  said.  “ We  want  to 
V make  Korea  a democracy  and  a Christian  democracy.” 
Christianity  from  time  immemorial  has  sown  the  seed 
of  democracy.  It  taught  the  dignity  of  man  and 
sanctity  of  human  rights,  and  has  been  a powerful 
enemy  of  the  tyrant  everywhere  it  went.  The  Japa- 
nese tyrant  and  the  Christian  Church  in  Korea  are  no 
exceptions. 

The  Korean  Church  is  unique  in  its  organization 
and  virility.  Although  nominally  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  missionaries,  it  is  a self-governing  body. 
The  Korean  Church  not  only  supports  itself,  but  has 
sent  out  missionaries  to  other  lands.  In  1918  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  alone  sent  out  forty-eight  mission- 
aries, including  three  to  Shantung  Peninsula  to  con- 
vert their  Chinese  brethren.  The  Korean  Christians 
give  not  only  one-tenth  of  their  income,  but  also,  one- 

159 


160 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


tenth  of  their  service  to  the  Church.*  In  short,  the 
Christians  are  the  leaven  in  the  Korean  population. 
They  are  among  the  most  progressive,  self-reliant  and 
efficient  of  all  Koreans.  They  may  submit  to  injustice 
and  be  obedient  to  Japanese  laws,  but  they  will  not 
deny  their  faith  or  forget  their  nationality.  They  have 
demonstrated  that  they  could  die  for  the  cause  of 
righteousness  and  die  willingly.  Japan  does  not  look 
with  favour  upon  an  agency  that  makes  men  of  this 
independent  sort.  She  was  convinced  that  Christian- 
ity, more  than  any  other  institution,  would  stiffen 
Korea’s  moral  fiber,  awaken  the  dormant  intellectual 
life  and  revitalize  the  manhood  of  the  apparently  dead 
nation.  Something  must  be  done  to  check  the  further 
propagation  of  Christianity  and  to  crush  the  already 
existing  influence  of  the  Church. 

Peaceful  methods  were  employed  at  first.  “ Mis- 
sionaries ” from  the  Japanese  Congregational  Church, 
which  is  a semi-official  organization  in  religious  garb, 
and  Shinto  and  Buddhist  priests  were  brought  over 
from  Japan  to  convert  the  Koreans.  The  special  mis- 
sion of  the  Japanese  Congregational  “missionaries” 
was  to  proselytize  the  Korean  Christians  so  as  to  un- 
dermine the  Korean  Church.  The  Shinto  and  Bud- 
dhist priests  were  to  reach  the  non-Christian  population. 
Magnificent  temples  were  built  to  these  sects,  and  the 
Koreans  were  approached  to  join  these  organizations 
with  alluring  promises  of  favour  from  the  Govern- 
ment. But  Koreans  saw  the  intention  of  Japan  in  all 
this,  and  turned  a deaf  ear  to  those  religious  propa- 
gandists of  the  Japanese  Government.  The  whole 


THE  PEESECUTION  OF  THE  CHUECH  ' 161 


project  of  peaceful  conquest  of  the  Korean  Christians 
turned  out  to  be  a fiasco. 

Governor-General  Terauchi  promptly  decided  to  use 
the  easiest  method  at  his  disposal — the  method  against 
which  the  Koreans  would  have  no  recourse — force. 
In  the  autumn  of  1911,  the  most  prominent  leading 
Christians  throughout  the  country  were  arrested  by 
wholesale  on  the  charge  that  they  had  been  conspiring 
to  murder  the  Governor-General.  They  were  grilled 
through  the  usual  process  of  “ preliminary  examina- 
tions.” “ Confessions  ” were  prepared  by  the  police 
for  the  prisoners  to  sign  under  secret  tortures,  which 
were  repudiated  in  open  court  by  the  prisoners.  Nine 
were  exiled  without  trial,  three  died  as  a direct  result 
of  tortures,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  were 
brought  to  trial  on  June  28,  1912,  in  the  district  court 
of  Seoul.  The  counsel  for  the  defense  was  not  al- 
lowed to  produce  witnesses  who  could  have  testified 
to  alibis,  and  the  judges  sided  with  the  police  in  bas- 
ing their  decisions  on  the  strength  of  torture-wrung 
“ confessions.”  On  September  28,  one  hundred  and  six 
of  the  accused  men  were  sentenced  to  terms  of  im- 
prisonment ranging  from  five  to  ten  years.* 

Unfortunately  for  the  Japanese  Government,  this 
travesty  of  justice  aroused  considerable  criticism  in  the 
West.  Dr.  Arthur  Judson  Brown,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America,  in  a remarkably  clear  pamphlet. 
The  Korean  Conspiracy  Case,  laid  bare  how  the  whole 
case  was  manufactured  by  the  police  to  trap  the  most 
* Cf.  Current  Literature,  December,  1912,  pp.  631-633. 


162 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


progressive  Korean  leaders.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot, 
President  Emeritus  of  Harvard  University,  wrote 
from  Tokyo  on  September  4,  1912,  “ The  standing  of 
Japan  among  Western  nations  would  be  improved  by 
judicious  modifications  of  her  preliminary  proceedings 
against  alleged  criminals.”  ‘ James  Gordon  Bennett, 
the  owner  of  the  New  York  Herald,  dispatched  the 
Herald’s  trusted  Peking  Correspondent,  J.  K.  Ohl,  to 
Seoul  to  report  the  case.  Mr.  Ohl  cabled  the  proceed- 
ings to  his  paper,  which  remorselessly  revealed  the 
entire  fabrication  of  the  Japanese  police  with  which 
the  court  was  in  league.  Dr.  W.  W.  Pinson,  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  made  a special  trip  to 
Korea  to  investigate  the  case.  Among  other  things, 
he  reported: 

One  of  the  striking  things  about  this  body  of  prisoners 
is  its  personnel.  If  one  is  here  looking  for  weak  and 
cringing  cowards  or  brazen  desperadoes  he  will  be  dis- 
appointed. Instead,  he  will  see  men  erect,  manly,  self- 
respecting  and  intelligent.  There  are  many  faces  that 
bear  the  marks  of  unusual  strength  and  nobility  of  char- 
acter. As  a whole  they  are  a body  of  men  of  far  better 
quality  than  one  would  expect  to  see  in  the  same  number 
of  men  anywhere  in  this  country.  On  closer  investiga- 
tion it  is  made  clear  that  the  gendarmes  have  thrust 
their  sickle  in  among  the  tallest  wheat.  These  men  do 
not  belong  to  the  criminal  or  irresponsible  class  of  so- 
ciety. Most  of  them  are  Presbyterians,  trained  after  the 
strictest  sect  of  the  Shorter  Catechism.  These  are  not 
the  type  of  men  to  be  guilty  of  such  a plot  as  that  with 

‘ Quoted  by  Brown  in  the  pamphlet  mentioned. 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  163 


which  they  are  charged.  They  are  too  intelligent.  They 
might  be  capable  of  a desperate  venture  for  a great  cause, 
but  they  could  not  possibly  undertake  anything  idiotic.^ 

Foreign  criticism  compelled  Japan  to  permit  the  ap- 
peal in  the  case,  and  the  Court  of  Appeals  was  in- 
structed by  the  Governor-General  to  use  “ conciliatory  ^ 
methods,”  as  a result  of  which  all  the  prisoners  were 
released  except  six.  Five  of  tliese  were  sentenced  to 
six  years’  penal  servitude,  and  one  to  five  years.  They 
were  the  most  prominent  leaders,  Baron  Yun  Chi  Ho, 
a former  member  of  the  Korean  Cabinet,  President  of 
the  Southern  Methodist  College  at  Songdo,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Korean  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  Yang  Kai 
Tak,  the  best  known  Korean  author  and  journalist,  be- 
ing among  them.’  The  alleged  crimes  with  which  they 
were  charged  were  identical  with  those  of  the  released; 
their  sentence  was  nothing  more  than  a face-saving  de- 
vice of  the  Japanese  Government  in  Korea.  The  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  America, 
which  made  official  representations  to  the  Japanese 
Embassy  at  Washington  concerning  the  Korean  “ Con- 
spiracy Case,”  was  approached  by  semi-official  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Japanese  Government  in  America 
with  the  suggestion  that  all  the  prisoners  would  be 
pardoned  if  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  would 
admit  their  guilt  and  appeal  to  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment for  “ clemency.”  This  was  flatly  refused.  The 

’ Full  report  published  in  the  New  York  Herald,  September  29, 
1912. 

’Cf.  “Korea’s  Plight  Under  Japan,”  The  Presbyterian  Banner, 
July  16,  1914. 


164 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Japanese  Government  was  chagrined  at  the  failure  of 
their  officially  hatched  scheme  of  reducing  the  influence 
of  Christianity  in  Korea,  and  all  the  accused  were  re- 
leased in  February,  1915,  at  the  time  of  the  coronation 
of  the  Emperor,  as  a mark  of  Imperial  “ clemency.”  * 

The  “ Conspiracy  Case  ” did  not  daunt  the  Korean 
Christians.  The  position  of  the  Korean  Church, 
strange  to  say,  was  strengthened  rather  than  weakened. 
In  it  the  Koreans  found  comfort  and  support  for  their 
wounded  personal  injury  and  national  honour.  De- 
nied access  to  the  outer  world,  imprisoned  by  their 
hated  conquerors,  they  received  through  Christianity 
a contact  with  far-away  nations,  who  seemed  to  have 
far  kindlier  ideals  than  the  Japanese.  And  best  of  all, 
it  gave  them  hope  to  “ carry  on.”  They  were  not  re- 
signed to  fate.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  eternally 
restless.  The  static  idealism  of  the  Orient  was  sud- 
denly changed  into  a dynamic  power,  and  dying  a 
martyr’s  death  for  the  sake  of  their  faith  and  for  the 
cause  of  their  national  freedom  was  considered  the 
duty  of  every  true  Christian  in  Korea.  Very  aptly, 
William  T.  Ellis,  the  well-known  religious  writer  in 
America,  described  the  fiber  of  the  Korean  Christian 
in  the  following  words:  “In  all  the  wide  realm  of 
foreign  missions,  there  is  no  group  of  converts  better 
qualified  to  pass  through  triumphantly  the  fires  of  per- 
secution than  the  Korean  Christians.  From  the  stand- 
point of  Christian  testimony,  this  dreadful  story  of 
persecution  in  Korea  is  a romantic  and  glorious  one.” 

* A complete  record  of  the  “ Korean  Conspiracy  Case,”  pub- 
lished by  Japan  Chronicle  in  a pamphlet. 


THE  PEKSECUTION  OF  THE  CHUECH  166 


The  Japanese  authorities  now  decided  to  tighten 
their  stranglehold  on  the  Korean  Church  in  a less 
obvious  way.  “ Educational  Ordinances  ” were 
promulgated  in  1915,  forbidding  religious  instructions 
in  mission  schools  under  the  pretext  of  separating  edu- 
cation from  religion,  and  requiring  of  all  mission 
schools  to  have  a Japanese  supervisor  appointed  by 
the  Bureau  of  Education.  Mission  schools  were  re- 
quired to  report  to  the  Government  all  the  details  of 
their  work  every  day.  No  new  schools  were  to  be 
established  without  the  Government  permit,  and  no 
Christian  clergyman  was  allowed  to  preach  without  a 
Government  license.  Obtaining  permits  from  the 
Government  was  made  next  to  impossible,  and  the 
authorities  “ advised  ” the  Koreans  not  to  send  their 
children  to  mission  schools.  All  teaching  must  be  con- 
ducted in  the  Japanese  language,  and  any  school  that 
did  not  meet  with  these  requirements  was  to  be  closed 
by  the  Government. 

Those  schools  which  had  a Government  permit 
when  the  Ordinances  were  announced  were  given  ten 
years  in  which  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  require- 
ments. Other  schools  must  immediately  conform  or 
close.  The  Presbyterian  Academy  for  Boys  at  Syen 
Chun  and  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Academy  for 
Girls  at  Soon  Chun,  although  established  before  the 
law  went  into  effect,  had  not  received  permits  on  ac- 
count of  technical  delays,  yet  were  closed  by  magis- 
trates. Thus  the  missionaries  and  Christian  workers 
were  being  deprived  of  their  former  rights  under  the 
old  Korean  Government  and  denied  the  privileges  en- 


166 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


joyed  by  their  fellow-workers  in  Japan  proper.  The 
Rev.  James  E.  Adams,  Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  the 
Educational  Foundation  of  Korea,  rightly  observes 
that  “ the  situation  is  not  at  all  that  which  obtains  in 
Japan  itself.  In  Japan  proper,  because  of  the  common 
schools  where  education  is  compulsory,  there  are  but 
few  mission  schools.  In  such  schools  as  exist,  how- 
ever, religious  instruction  is  not  forbidden.  If  the 
mission  school  conforms  to  the  Government  system, 
secularizes  and  meets  the  other  conditions,  it  has  cer- 
tain privileges  which  other  schools  do  not  have.  It 
may,  however,  not  conform  and  continue  to  operate, 
in  which  case  it  has  the  utmost  freedom  of  religious 
instruction  in  its  curriculum.  Of  this  type  is  our 
Meiji  Gakuin,  and  the  Methodist  Aoyama  Gakuin. 
The  option  given  is;  ‘ Conform  or  stay  out.’  Here 
the  option  is:  ‘ Conform  or  close  up.’  One  is  an  op- 
tion of  permission,  the  other  an  option  of  suppression. 
In  this  they  are  fundamentally  different,  and  in  so  far, 
the  situation  in  Korea  is  more  grave  than  it  has  been 
in  Japan.  No  liberty  of  choice  is  given.  It  is  secular- 
ize or  go  out  of  business.”  ’ 

In  laying  these  restrictions  the  Japanese  administra- 
tion in  Korea  had  two  things  in  view.  First,  to  hinder 
the  work  of  the  missionaries  with  an  infinite  amount 
of  red-tape  technicalities,  so  that  the  missionaries 
would  gradually  leave  the  country  under  pressure.  In 
this  they  have  partially  succeeded,  as  a number  of  very 

’ Cf.  “Japanese  Nationalism  and  Mission  Schools  in  Chosen,” 
The  International  Reviezv  of  Missions,  Vol.  VI,  No.  21,  January, 
1917.  PP.  74-98. 


THE  PEESECUTION  OF  THE  CHUECH  167 


prominent  missionaries,  long  residents  of  Korea,  have 
left  the  field/  The  other  object  the  Government  had 
hoped  to  attain  was  to  eliminate  the  mission  schools, 
and  thereby  compel  all  Korean  children  to  be  trained 
under  altered  conditions.  In  this  way  they  could  com- 
plete their  program  of  Japanizing  Korea  in  a single 
generation.  But  in  this  attempt  they  have  signally 
failed. 

The  very  attempt  to  make  loyal  Japanese  out  of 
Korean  children  produced  an  opposite  effect  on  the 
mind  of  the  Korean  youngsters.  A few  incidents 
typical  of  the  Korean  children  in  their  attitude  towards 
the  Japanese  will  illustrate  this. 


On  one  occasion  in  a church  two  soldiers  marched 
rudely  in  during  the  service  and  \vent  right  up  to  the 
women’s  side,  where,  as  usual,  many  children  were  sitting 
with  the  women.  Said  one  small 'Igirl  aloud,  pointing 
with  her  thin  forefinger : “ Look  at  those  Japanese  ras- 
cals ! ” Another  small  girl  had  been  counting  the  gas- 
lights in  the  church  and  was  saying:  “One,  two,  three, 
four  gaslights.”  “ Hi^h,”  said  a small  companion,  “ don’t 
say  ‘ gaV  that  is  a Japanese  word!  ” 

A ten-*year-old  Korean^  schoolboy  was  describing  a de- 
tested Japanese  schoolmaster.  He  said,  “ He  is  short- 
necked with  a very  thin  face.  It  is  the  face  of  a beast 
gradually  changed  into  ^ man.  He  shakes  his  sword  at 
us.  His  e^e  like  t^e  eye  of  a §nakfe  looking  through 
grass.  His  expression  i,s  the  expression  *of  a fox  un- 
happily pursued  by  hunters  hnd  taking  refuge  in  the 
cleft  of  a rock.  When'he  looks  down  ^t  us^with  wide- 

‘Cf.  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  June,  1913,  pp. 
450-453- 


168 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


opening  eyes,  there  is  no  love  that  can  be  found  in  his 
whole  appearance,  only  pride  and  anger.” ' 

The  Japanese  officials  were  getting  desperate  over 
the  failure  of  their  efforts.  They  were  at  sea  as  to 
what  step  they  should  take  next.  Lacking  broad-mind- 
edness and  sympathetic  understanding,  they  can  never 
see  the  problem  in  proper  perspective.  They  have  an 
exalted  opinion  of  their  position  and  underestimate  the 
Korean  capacity.  They  rage  at  the  failure  of  their 
attempts,  and  without  stopping  to  find  the  underlying 
cause.  They  shift  the  blame  upon  the  Korean  and 
the  Christian  missionary,  but  never  think  of  blaming 
themselves.  Once  a boy  of  fourteen,  under  arrest  for 
participating  in  the  Independence  Demonstration,  was 
asked  by  the  officials,  “ Who  put  you  up  to  this  ? ” 
Pointing  to  the  Chief  of  Police,  he  answered  wittily, 
“ There  is  the  man  who  made  me  do  it!  ” The  Japa- 
nese merely  thought  the  boy  was  crazy. 

When  the  Independence  Movement  broke  out  in 
March,  1919,  all  the  pent-up  hatred  and  suspicion  of 
the  Japanese  officials  in  Korea  towards  the  Christians 
was  given  vent.  Desecrating  the  Church  and  destroy- 
ing mission  schools  at  once  became  the  favourite  pas- 
time of  the  Japanese  soldiers.  Christians  were  singled 
out  for  persecution.  A traveller  on  the  highroad 
would  be  stopped  and  questioned  by  Japanese  soldiers 
whether  he  was  a Christian.  If  he  was  non-Christian, 
he  would  be  released.  But  if  he  were  a Christian,  he 
would  be  mortally  beaten  or  shot  on  the  spot. 

’ “ Warring  Mentalities  in  the  Far  East,”  Asia,  August,  1920, 
PP-  693-701. 


THE  PEESECUTION  OP  THE  CHUECH  169 


A Canadian  missionary,  in  a report  to  his  Home 
Board,  on  April  25,  1919,  writes: 

They  have  questioned  all  prisoners  particularly  whether 
the  missionaries  led  the  uprising.  Thank  God,  so  far, 
our  people  have  had  the  strength  through  torture  to  tell 
the  truth.  In  our  town  over  one  thousand  Koreans  are 
in  prison.  Many  are  Christians  who  are  beaten  and  tor- 
tured in  an  endeavour  to  make  them  say  that  the  mission- 
aries led  them  into  asking  for  independence.  Women  are 
kicked  and  beaten  to  make  them  tell  where  their  hus- 
bands and  sons  are.  A woman  was  brought  in  here  yes- 
terday, her  body  horribly  mutilated,  stamped  on  by 
spurred  boots.  Just  the  other  day  seven  were  beaten  to 
death.* 

A lady  missionary,  at  another  place,  wrote  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  Canada: 

A number  of  churches  are  being  burned.  One,  where 
the  Christians  were  called  together  by  the  authorities, 
was  surrounded  by  soldiers,  who  fired  among  them  and 
shot  many  of  them;  some  tried  to  escape,  only  to  meet 
the  bayonet.  The  building  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  sur- 
vivors burned  to  death — -thirty-one  in  all.  It  is  worse 
than  the  Hun,  and  a holocaust  that  cannot  be  beaten  by 
the  Turk.  Torture  in  the  prison  is  the  order  of  the  day. 
Many  die  under  the  stripes  they  receive.  It  is  a reign 
of  terror;  with  the  Christians  as  marked  men.  Many  a 
lash  the  poor  Korean  Christians  in  jail  here  receive,  es- 
pecially when  they  try  to  force  them  to  say  that  the  mis- 
sionaries urged  the  Koreans  in  their  call  for  independ- 
ence. Schools  are  closed;  our  churches  are  still  open, 
though  they  are  closed  and  being  burned  in  other  places. 

* Quoted  by  Rev.  A.  E.  Armstrong  in  an  article  published  in 
The  Toronto  Globe,  Toronto,  Canada,  July  I2,  1919. 


170 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


March  4,  with  the  first  cry  of  Mansei,  my  husband  rushed 
down  town.  He  was  gone  about  an  hour.  He  came  back 
crying  aloud:  “ My  God!  Such  a sight!  Japanese  cool- 
ies out  with  fire-hooks  and  clubs  tearing  and  rending  the 
poor,  unarmed  Koreans  to  bits ! ” He  met  my  Bible 
woman’s  husband,  dragged  along  by  two  coolies,  his  head 
gashed  open  and  one  leg  dragging  limp. 

This  form  of  Christian  persecution  aroused  vigorous 
protest  not  only  from  missionaries  in  Korea,  but  also 
from  different  denominations  in  America  and  Canada. 
The  Methodist  General  Conference,  which  met  in  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  May,  1920,  in  a resolution  passed  on 
May  25,  vigorously  condemned  “ all  forms  of  national 
aggression,  whether  military  or  economic,  which  in- 
vades the  sovereignty  of  other  states.  We  stand,  as 
Christians,  resolutely  opposed  to  those  groups  in  any 
and  every  land  which  are  militaristic  in  spirit  and  im- 
perialistic in  aim.”  After  deploring  the  ” lamentable 
outrages  in  Korea  during  the  past  fifteen  months, 
when  under  the  Japanese  rule  brutalities,  killings, 
burnings  and  torturings  have  occurred,”  the  resolu- 
tion poignantly  concludes:  “ Especially  would  we  ex- 
press our  sympathy  with  our  fellow-Christians  who 
have  suffered  the  loss  of  Church  property  and  in  some 
cases  of  life  itself.  While  we  can  ask  no  special  ex- 
emption for  any  because  they  are  Christians,  we  have 
a right  to  ask  that  none  suffer  violence  or  imprison- 
ment simply  because  they  are  Christians.”  ’ 

' Submitted  by  Titus  Lowe,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  For- 
eign Missions,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference.  Full 
text  found  in  The  Daily  Christian  Advocate  (official  organ  of  the 
General  Conference),  May  26.  1920. 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  171 


An  exhaustive  description  of  Christian  persecutions 
by  the  Japanese  in  Korea  during  the  year,  1919,  would 
fill  a volume.  The  following  extract,  taken  from  the 
annual  report  (1918-19)  of  the  American  Presbyte- 
rian Mission  Station  at  Pyeng  Yang,  is  typical  of  the 
conditions  of  the  Church  in  its  relation  with  the  In- 
dependence Movement.  From  the  description  of  the 
plight  of  this  one  district,  the  reader  may  form  an 
idea  of  the  fate  of  other  Christian  communities  all 
over  Korea. 

*♦♦:)!*  * i' 

To  sum  up  what  has  been  committed  against  the 
Church  in  the  Pyeng  Yang  territory  by  the  police,  gen- 
darmes and  soldiers,  in  line  with  the  statements  made 
above,  we  give  the  following: 

1.  They  have  arrested  many  of  the  leaders  of  the 
churches,  including  pastors,  helpers,  and  school  teachers. 
Many  of  the  rest  have  fled  for  safety,  for  the  Church 
leaders  seem  to  have  been  singled  out  for  punishment 
and  persecution  regardless  of  guilt  or  innocence. 

2.  They  have  seriously  damaged  nineteen  church 
buildings  and  broken  the  bells  in  others. 

3.  They  have  expropriated  the  property  of  at  least 
one  Church  for  other  purposes  without  asking  for  or 
receiving  permission  to  use  the  same. 

4.  Twenty-six  churches  have  been  forced  to  close  for 
periods  up  to  three  months  and  more. 

5.  Many  church  schools  have  been  forced  to  close  in 
both  city  and  country,  because  of  the  arrest  of  teachers, 
for  periods  up  to  three  months  and  more. 

6.  Helpers,  pastors  and  Bible  women  have  been  or- 
dered to  stop  preaching  in  many  places. 

7.  Christian  literature  has  been  seized  and  destroyed 
in  many  places. 


172 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


8.  The  police  have  ordered  the  non-Christians  to 
drive  the  Christians  out  of  their  homes  in  several  places. 

9.  All  the  students  in  the  Union  Christian  College  and 
the  Boys’  Academy  in  Pyeng  Yang  were  ordered  arrested 
by  the  Chief  of  Police  whether  guilty  of  any  offense  or 
not. 

10.  Christians  have  been  discriminated  against  in 
many  ways,  of  which  the  following  are  typical : 

(o)  In  the  special  severity  shown  Christians  in  con- 
nection with  the  spring  “ clean  up.” 

(b)  In  the  frequency  and  severity  of  beatings  admin- 
istered by  police  in  the  performance  of  their  official  du- 
ties, 

(c)  In  the  special  effort  to  arrest  and  punish  the  lead- 
ers of  the  churches  on  the  ground  that  they  were  per  se 
leaders,  too,  in  the  independence  movement. 

11.  Christian  women  in  the  country  have  been  terror- 
ized by  police,  gendarmes  and  soldiers. 

12.  The  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  for 
Koreans  (under  Japanese  control),  Mr.  Takahashi,  has 
visited  certain  of  our  churches  and,  assisted  by  police, 
has  forced  Christians  to  gather  and  listen  to  addresses 
intended  to  alienate  them  from  the  missionaries  and  their 
present  church  connection,  and  attempted  to  proselyte 
for  his  church.  This  was  done  with  the  knowledge  and 
assistance  of  petty  government  officials. 


X 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONARIES 

The  Japanese  policy  in  Korea  towards  foreign- 
ers has  been  one  of  gradual,  but  no  less  sure, 
exclusion.  After  the  protectorate  was  estab- 
lished in  1905,  Mr.  F.  A.  McKenzie  travelled  all 
through  the  interior  of  Korea  as  the  special  corre- 
spondent of  the  London  Daily  Mail.  In  1907,  Mr. 
McKenzie  wrote  in  his  book.  The  Tragedy  of  Korea: 

Everything  that  is  possible  has  been  done  to  rob  the 
white  man  of  whatever  prestige  is  yet  left  to  him.  The 
most  influential  white  men  in  Korea  are  the  missionaries, 
and  they  have  a large,  enthusiastic,  and  growing  follow- 
ing. Careful  and  deliberate  attempts  have  been  engi- 
neered to  induce  their  converts  to  turn  from  the  lead  of 
the  English  and  American  teachers  and  to  throw  in  their 
lot  with  the  Japanese.  The  native  Press,  under  Japanese 
editorship,  systematically  preaches  anti-white  doctrines. 
Any  one  who  mixes  freely  with  the  Korean  people  hears 
from  them,  time  after  time,  of  the  principles  the  Japa- 
nese would  fain  have  them  learn.  I have  been  told  of 
this  by  ex-Cabinet  Ministers,  by  young  students,  and  even 
by  native  servants. 

♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦* 

The  lowered  status  of  the  white  in  Korea  can  be 
clearly  seen  by  the  attitude  of  many  of  the  Japanese 
towards  him.  I have  heard  stories  from  friends  of  my 
own,  residents  in  the  country,  quiet  and  inoffensive  peo- 

173 


174 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


pie  that  have  made  my  blood  boil.  It  is  difficult,  for  in- 
stance, to  restrain  one’s  indignation  when  a missionary 
lady  tells  you  of  how  she  was  walking  along  the  street 
when  a Japanese  soldier  hustled  up  against  her  and  de- 
liberately struck  her  in  the  breast.  The  Roman  Catholic 
bishop  was  openly  insulted  and  struck  by  Japanese  sol- 
diers in  his  own  cathedral,  and  nothing  was  done.  The 
story  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weigall  typifies  others.  Mr. 
Weigall  is  an  Australian  mining  engineer,  and  was  trav- 
elling up  north  with  his  wife  and  assistant,  Mr.  Taylor, 
and  some  Korean  servants,  in  December,  1905.  He  had 
full  authorizations  and  passports  and  was  going  about 
his  business  in  a perfectly  proper  manner.  His  party 
was  stopped  at  one  point  by  some  Japanese  soldiers,  and 
treated  in  a fashion  which  it  is  impossible  fully  to  describe 
in  print.  They  were  insulted,  jabbed  at  with  bayonets, 
and  put  under  arrest.  One  soldier  held  his  gun  close  to 
Mrs.  Weigall  and  struck  her  full  in  the  chest  with  his 
closed  fist  when  she  moved.  The  man  called  them  by  the 
most  insulting  names  possible,  keeping  the  choicest 
phrases  for  the  lady.  Their  servants  were  kicked.  Fi- 
nally, they  were  allowed  to  go  away  after  a long  delay 
and  long  exposure  to  bitter  weather,  repeated  insults  be- 
ing hurled  after  them.  The  British  authorities  took  up 
this  case.  There  was  abundant  evidence,  and  there  could 
be  no  dispute  about  the  facts.  All  the  satisfaction,  how- 
ever, that  the  Weigalls  could  obtain  was  a nominal 
apology. 

Then  there  was  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  !McRae,  a 
Canadian  missionary  living  in  northeastern  Korea.  Mr. 
McRae  had  obtained  some  land  for  a mission  station, 
and  the  Japanese  military  authorities  there  wanted  it. 
They  drove  stakes  into  part  of  the  property,  and  he, 
thereupon,  represented  the  case  to  the  Japanese  officials, 
and  after  at  least  twice  asking  them  to  remove  their 
stakes,  he  pulled  them  up  himself.  The  Japanese  waited 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


176 


until  a fellow-missionary,  who  lived  with  Mr.  McRae, 
had  gone  away  on  a visit,  and  then  six  soldiers  entered  his 
compound  and  attacked  him.  He  defended  himself  so 
well  that  he  finally  drove  them  off,  although  he  received 
some  bad  injuries,  especially  from  the  blows  from  one  of 
the  men’s  rifles.  Complaint  was  made  to  the  chief  au- 
thorities, and,  in  this  case,  the  Japanese  promised  to 
punish  the  officer  concerned.  But  there  have  been 
dozens  of  instances  affecting  Europeans  of  all  ranks, 
from  consular  officials  to  chance  visitors.  In  most  cases 
the  complaints  are  met  by  a simple  denial  on  the  part  of 
the  Japanese.  Even  where  the  offense  is  admitted  and 
punishment  is  promised,  the  Europeans  will  assure  you 
that  the  men,  whom  it  has  been  promised  to  imprison, 
come  and  parade  themselves  outside  their  houses  im- 
mediately afterwards  in  triumph.  In  Korea,  as  in  For- 
mosa, the  policy  is  to-day  to  humiliate  the  white  man 
by  any  means  and  in  any  way. 

After  driving  out  all  the  European  and  American 
business  men  by  trade  discrimination,  the  Japanese 
Government  sought  devices  by  which  to  eliminate  the 
remainder  of  the  foreigners — the  missionaries,  some 
400  of  them — without  technically  violating  the  exist- 
ing treaty  obligations  with  the  Western  Powers. 
When  mission  board  secretaries  and  prominent  Church 
men  visit  Korea  and  Japan,  they  are  assured  by  the 
Japanese  authorities  that  the  missionary  work  in  Korea 
is  not  only  unmolested  but  actually  encouraged  by  the 
powers  that  be.  This  is  to  create  an  impression  at  the 
different  missionary  headquarters  that  if  ever  trouble 
arose  between  the  missionaries  and  the  Japanese  au- 
thorities, it  would  be  all  due  to  the  indiscretion  of  the 
missionaries  and  not  the  fault  of  the  Japanese  admin- 


176 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


istration.  The  mission  board  authorities  were  thus 
hoodwinked  as  to  the  actual  difficulties  that  their  work- 
ers were  placed  under  in  Korea.  Any  complaint  that 
they  sent  in  against  the  Japanese  in  Korea  was  pigeon- 
holed, as  a rule,  at  the  home  office.  The  missionaries 
themselves  preferred  rather  to  suffer  in  silence  the 
petty  annoyances  and  official  interference  of  the  Japa- 
nese authorities  than  to  make  any  complaint  to  their 
Boards.  Dr.  Brown  gives  the  reason  of  their  reluc- 
tance to  criticize  the  Japanese  authorities  in  these 
words: 

This  may  be  due  to  the  belief  that  their  letters  are 
opened  by  the  Japanese,  but  it  is  due  in  larger  part  to 
their  reluctance  to  criticize  the  Japanese  except  when 
forced  to  do  so  by  their  immediate  relation  to  specific 
cases  of  injustice.’ 

It  must  be  remembered  that  when  a missionary  op- 
poses wrong  in  Korea — the  sort  in  which  no  decent 
man  would  acquiesce — he  should  not  be  understood  as 
opposing  the  Japanese  Government.  His  opposition  is 
on  the  ground  of  humanity  and  justice,  of  which  he  is 
the  apostle.  The  missionaries  in  Korea  are,  perhaps, 
the  most  subservient  of  all  Westerners  in  the  Orient. 
They  are  instructed  by  their  respective  Home  Boards 
to  remain  strictly  neutral  in  political  matters,  and  fol- 
* low  the  maxim,  “ Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 
are  Caesar’s.”  The  constant  petty  meddling  in  their 
work  by  Japanese  underlings,  which  would  not  be 
tolerated  by  any  other  body  of  American  or  British 
‘A.  J.  Brown,  The  Korean  Conspiracy  Case,  p.  il. 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


177 


residents  in  the  Far  East,  is  taken  as  a matter  of 
course.  “ Our  compensation  in  enduring  the  petty 
persecutions  of  the  Japanese  officialdom  in  Korea,” 
said  one  missionary,  “ is  that  we  enjoy  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  all  Koreans,  both  Christian  and  non- 
Christian,  which  is  a constant  source  of  inspiration  to 
us.” 

The  first  overt  act  of  the  Japanese  Government,  in 
their  insidious  persecution  of  the  missionaries  in 
Korea  that  drew  the  attention  of  the  West  was  in  con- 
nection with  the  Conspiracy  Case  in  1912,  when  many 
of  the  prominent  missionaries  were  charged  as  being 
accomplices  in  a “ plot  ” to  assassinate  Governor-Gen- 
eral Terauchi.  The  Rev.  George  S.  McCune  of  Beaver 
Falls,  Pa.,  whose  unimpeachable  character  is  well 
known  among  the  missionary  circles  in  America  and  in 
the  Far  East,  was  charged  as  being  the  ringleader  of 
the  American  missionaries,  instigating  the  Koreans  to 
murder  the  Governor-General.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot 
of  Harvard  wrote  from  Tokyo,  September  4,  1912, 
that  no  American  would  believe  “ that  a single  Ameri- 
can missionary  was  in  the  slightest  degree  concerned 
with  the  alleged  conspiracy.”  The  charges  brought 
against  the  Americans  were  so  absurd  that  they  re- 
flected no  small  amount  of  discredit  to  the  Japanese 
Government  in  the  public  opinion  of  the  West.‘ 

When  open  persecutions  were  not  possible,  the  Japa- 
nese would  create  circumstances  and  make  conditions 
almost  impossible  for  the  missionaries  to  work  under. 
One  missionary  wrote  as  far  back  as  1912: 

*Cf.  The  Continent  (New  York),  June  13,  27,  July  25,  1912. 


178 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


It  would  seem  that  what  the  Japanese  are  aiming  to  do 
is  to  hamper  our  work  so  that  we  will  have  to  leave. 
They  have  always  been  jealous  of  our  influence  and  in- 
credibly suspicious  of  our  designs,  and  would,  no  doubt, 
be  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  us.  Then,  too,  they  are  smart 
enough  to  know  that  by  making  the  people  Christians 
we  are  making  enlightened  people  of  them,  who  will  be 
harder  to  exterminate  or  to  reduce  to  serfdom  than  the 
raw  heathens.  . . . Our  only  weapon  is  public  senti- 

ment on  the  subject  in  the  United  States  and  widespread 
knowledge  of  the  facts.* 

The  missionary  had  two  alternatives;  either  to  en- 
dure the  petty  tyranny  of  the  Japanese  and  submit  to 
conditions  thus  created,  intolerable  though  they  be,  or 
to  leave  the  country.  He  chose  the  former,  thereby 
incurring  more  hatred  and  enmity  on  the  part  of  the 
Japanese. 

When  the  Independence  Demonstrations  began  in 
Korea,  the  authorities  requested  the  missionaries  to 
exert  their  influence  and  prestige  among  the  Koreans 
to  pacify  the  land.  In  other  words,  the  missionaries 
were  solicited  to  side  with  the  Japanese  to  crush  the 
Independence  Movement  with  their  weapon  of  moral 
suasion.  Bishop  Herbert  Welch,  the  resident  Method- 
ist Bishop  of  Korea,  represented  the  missionary  body 
as  their  spokesman.  It  was,  indeed,  fortunate  for  the 
missionaries  in  Korea  to  have  as  their  leader  a man  of 
such  high  caliber  and  character  as  Bishop  Welch. 
Thoroughly  grounded  in  scholarship  and  well  trained 
in  administration.  Bishop  Welch  went  out  to  Korea 
from  the  Presidency  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Univer- 

* Quoted  by  William  T.  Ellis,  The  Continent,  June  27,  1912. 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


179 


sity.  He  commands  the  confidence  of  the  Koreans  and 
the  respect  of  the  Japanese  officials.  In  his  conference 
with  the  Government  authorities  he  flatly  refused  to 
accept  their  proposal,  saying  that  (1)  complying  with 
it  would  have  no  effect  upon  the  Movement  as  the  mis- 
sionaries were  not  consulted  by  the  Koreans  in  the 
plan  of  demonstration;  (2)  it  would  destroy  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Koreans  in  the  missionaries  and  create 
an  impression  that  the  missionaries  were  siding  with 
the  Japanese;  (3)  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  tradi- 
tional policy  of  missionaries  in  maintaining  strict  neu- 
trality in  regard  to  political  affairs  and,  therefore, 
would  not  be  sanctioned  by  the  Home  Boards. 

The  Japanese  Government  officially  exonerated  the 
missionaries  from  implication  in  the  Independence 
Movement.  This  was  done  to  sidetrack  all  responsi- 
bility for  the  persecutions  about  to  be  launched  by  the 
press  and  the  petty  officials  under  instruction  of  higher 
authorities.  The  Japanese  newspapers,  in  Korea  and 
Japan,  soon  came  out  with  inflammatory  articles  ac- 
cusing the  missionaries  of  being  actively  connected 
with  the  uprising.  The  following  ejccerpts  from  rep- 
resentative Japanese  dailies  in  Korea,  in  Japan  and  in 
America  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  Japanese  senti- 
ment towards  foreign  missionaries  in  Korea. 

The  Chosen  Shimbun,  the  official  organ  of  the  Police 
and  Gendarmery  Department,  at  Chemulpo,  remarks 
editorially  on  March  12,  1919: 

Behind  this  uprising,  we  see  the  ghost-like  figure  wav- 
ing his  wand.  This  ghost  is  really  hateful,  malicious, 
fierce.  Who  is  this  ghost  wearing  the  dark  clothes  ? The 


180 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


missionaries  and  the  head  of  the  Chuntokyo.  These  mis- 
sionaries have  come  out  of  the  American  nation.  They 
have  sold  themselves  for  the  petty  salary  of  some  300 
yen  ($150)  per  year,  and  they  have  crept  out  like  reptiles 
on  their  belly  as  far  as  Korea.  There  is  nothing  of  good 
that  can  be  said  of  their  knowledge,  character  and  dispo- 
sition. 

These  messengers  of  God  are  only  after  money  and  are 
sitting  around  their  homes  with  a full  stomach.  The  bad 
things  of  the  world  all  start  from  such  trash  as  these. 
They  planned  this  dirty  work  and  got  into  league  with 
the  Chuntokyo.  If  we  take  all  this  into  consideration, 
these  missionaries  are  all  hated  brutes. 

The  Osaka  Asalii,  one  of  the  noted  organs  of  Japa- 
nese liberalism,  directed  its  editorial  fire  against  the 
activities  of  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Moffett  of  Pyeng  Yang, 
who  has  been  in  Korea  for  thirty  years.  After  de- 
scribing the  mission  station  at  Pyeng  Yang  and  its 
“ connection  ” with  the  Independence  Movement,  the 
editorial  proceeds: 

The  head  of  the  crowd  is  Moffett.  The  Christians  of 
the  place  obey  him  as  they  would  Jesus  Himself.  In  the 
twenty-ninth  year  of  Meiji,  freedom  was  given  to  any 
one  to  believe  in  any  religion  he  wished,  and  at  that 
time  Moffett  came  to  teach  the  Christian  religion.  He  has 
been  in  Pyeng  Yang  for  thirty  years,  and  has  bought  up 
a great  deal  of  land.  He  is  really  the  founder  of  the 
foreign  community.  In  this  community,  because  of  his 
efforts,  there  have  been  established  schools  from  the 
primary  grade  to  a college  and  a hospital.  While  they 
are  educating  the  Korean  children  and  healing  their  dis- 
eases on  the  one  hand,  on  the  other  there  is  concealed 
a clever  shadow,  and  even  the  Koreans  themselves  talk 
of  this. 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


181 


This  is  the  center  of  the  present  uprising.  It  is  not 
in  Seoul,  but  in  Pyeng  Yang. 

It  is  impossible  to  know  whether  these  statements  are 
true  or  false,  but  we  feel  certain  that  it  is  in  Pyeng  Yang, 
in  the  Church  schools — in  a certain  college  and  a certain 
girls’  school — in  the  compound  of  these  foreigners. 
Really  this  foreign  community  is  very  vile.* 

We  would  naturally  suppose  the  Japanese  publica- 
tions in  America  would  be  thoroughly  liberal  and 
democratic  in  their  views,  but,  as  a matter  of  fact,  they 
are  as  thoroughly  Japanese  in  their  point  of  view  as 
the  official  organs  of  their  Government.  In  the  L,os 
Angeles  Daily  News,  May  16,  1919,  under  tlie  title  of 
“ Images,”  appears  an  invective  against  American  and 
British  missionaries  in  Korea  in  connection  with  the 
Independence  Movement.  The  following  is  a trans- 
lation of  a portion  of  the  editorial: 

What  we  hate  most  is  that  the  fellows  who  call  them- 
selves preachers  and  religious  men  participate  in  this 
low-down,  characteristic  movement  and  try  to  make 
Japan  disgraceful  to  the  world  by  calling  her  an  “ image 
worshipper.”  We  feel  like  breaking  the  flesh  and  suck- 
ing the  blood  of  such.  It  is  highly  probable  that  some  of 
these  privileged  preachers,  who  have  been  so  inoculated 
by  the  world  that  they  are  full  of  vice,  have  taken  this  op- 
portunity in  the  movement  for  Chosen  (Korean)  inde- 
pendence to  fan  the  flame  of  patriotism  in  the  Korean’s 
mind  in  order  to  secure  the  good  will  of  the  people.  It  is 
really  a bad  intrigue,  which  is  the  result  of  their  arro- 
gance and  covetousness.  We  believe  that  sooner  or  later 
their  curses  will  recoil  upon  them,  since  the  doctrine  of 
Heaven  (Buddhism,  etc.)  is  everlasting,  and  the  truth  is 
‘ Editorial  in  Osaka  Asahi,  March  17,  1919. 


182 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


never  to  be  changed.  We  believe  without  a single  doubt 
that  the  so-called  Christianity  takes  the  last  step  into 
destruction ! 

The  action  of  the  police  and  soldiers  towards  the 
missionaries  was  in  thorough  harmony  with  these  edi- 
torial sentiments  of  the  Japanese  press.  The  American 
Consul-General  at  Seoul  was  notified  to  the  effect  that 
he  should  warn  his  nationals  to  keep  off  the  streets 
after  dark,  as  the  authorities  would  not  guarantee  to 
protect  them.  This  was  significant  because  at  that  time 
it  was  known  that  200  thugs  were  brought  over  from 
Japan  to  terrorize  the  missionaries.  In  Pyeng  Yang, 
the  home  of  Dr.  Moffett  was  guarded  by  his  friends 
every  night.  Two  American  missionary  women.  Miss 
Maud  Trissel  of  Iowa,  and  Mrs.  J.  Z.  Moore  of  New 
York,  were  beaten  by  Japanese  soldiers  without  even 
a pretext,  and  another  American  woman  was  thrown 
into  a ditch  by  a Japanese  soldier  while  she  was  quietly 
going  about  her  own  business.* 

The  American  Consul-General  at  Seoul,  Mr.  Berg- 
holz,  promptly  called  on  the  Governor-General  Hase- 
gawa,  asserting  that  he  would  issue  no  such  warning 
and  would  hold  the  authorities  responsible  in  case  any 
of  his  nationals  were  molested  by  the  thugs.  He  de- 
manded a written  guarantee  for  the  safety  of  the  life 
of  American  citizens,  and  he  did  not  leave  the  office 
of  the  Governor-General  until  his  demands  were  satis- 
fied. 

* Letter  written  by  Miss  Grace  L.  Dillingham  of  Pyeng  Yang 
to  her  friend,  Mrs.  I.  L.  Lomprey  of  Flushing,  Long  Island, 
published  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  May  6,  1919. 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


183 


This  action  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Berghdlz  insured  the 
safety  of  the  life  of  the  American  missionaries,  but  it 
did  not  go  far  enough  to  protect  them  from  insults  and 
indignities  at  the  hands  of  Japanese.  “ On  March 
17,  a body  of  police,  led  by  a procurator,  came  to  the 
Severance  Union  Medical  College,  placed  guards  at 
all  the  gates  and  at  intervals  through  the  compound, 
and  searched  the  various  buildings  of  the  institution.”  ^ 
In  Pyeng  Yang  the  Rev.  Stacy  L.  Roberts  and  the 
Rev.  E.  W.  Thwing  -were  marched  through  the  streets 
to  the  police  station  only  to  be  released  without  trial. 
American  homes  were  entered  and  searched,  without 
warrant,  in  Fusan,  Pyeng  Yang,  Syen  Chun  and  Ham- 
heung.  At  Fusanchin,  two  lady  members  of  the  Aus- 
tralian Presbyterian  Mission,  Miss  Davies  and  Miss 
Hocking,  were  dragged  into  prison  on  the  absurd 
charge  that  they  were  inciting  Korean  girls  to  rebel- 
lion. They  were  compelled  to  stay  in  the  prison  for 
two  days  with  the  usual  Japanese  prison  “ courtesies  ” 
handed  to  them,  after  which  they  were  released  with- 
out trial.’ 

But  the  most  serious  cases  were  those  of  the  Rev. 
Ely  M.  Mowry  of  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Thomas,  an  English  member  of  the  Oriental  Mission- 
ary Society. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Mowry  was  a teacher  of  the  Union 
Christian  College  and  principal  of  both  the  boys’  and 

‘ From  a report  published  in  Congressional  Record,  Vol.  58, 
No.  47,  pp.  2847-48,  July  17,  1919. 

’ Cf.  Bishop  Herbert  Welch,  “ The  Korean  Independence  Move- 
ment of  1919,”  The  Christian  Advocate,  July  31,  1919,  p.  973. 


184 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


girls’  grammar  schools  at  Pyeng  Yang,  and  he  had 
taught  there  since  1911.  He  was  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  harbouring  “ criminals  ” in  his  home,  one 
of  whom  was  his  Korean  secretary.  The  five  boys 
found  in  his  home  were  all  students  of  his  college,  and 
had  stayed  there  before.  “ If  I had  been  informed 
that  the  police  were  trying  to  arrest  them  and  had 
concealed  them  it  would  have  been  wrong,”  said  Mr. 
Mowry  at  his  trial.  But  he  was  completely  ignorant 
that  they  were  branded  as  “ criminals  ” by  the  police. 
His  “ trial  was  held  after  one  day’s  notice  to  the  ac- 
cused,” thus  making  it  impossible  for  him  to  get  a 
lawyer  to  defend  himself.^  After  he  was  tried  and 
convicted,  then  his  friends  were  notified  that  they  could 
have  obtained  a postponement. 

Dr.  Moffett,  who  attended  the  hearing  in  the  case 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mowry  before  the  district  court  in 
Pyeng  Yang,  made  a detailed  report  to  the  American 
Consul-General,  Mr.  Bergholz,  at  Seoul,  in  which  he 
said,  “ I do  not  believe  Mr.  Mowry  has  done  anything 
which  renders  him  liable  to  law.”  “ 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Mowry  was  sentenced  to  six  months 
of  imprisonment  at  hard  labour.  When  he  appealed 
from  this  judgment,  the  sentence  was  reduced  to  four 
months.  An  appeal  was  made  to  a still  higher  court, 
and  finally  the  case  ended  in  the  fine  of  one  hundred 
yen  as  a “ face-saving  ” device  for  the  Japanese  offi- 
cials. 

^Report  of  trial  published  in  the  New  York  Times,  June  8, 
1919. 

‘ Report  published  in  Congressional  Record,  July  17,  1919,  pp. 

2854-55- 


To  Add  Insult  to  Injury,  the  Japanese  Police  Led  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mowry  off  to  Prison  in  the  Oriental  “Fool’s  Cap."  Evidently,  the 
American  Eagle  Has  Lost  Its  Voice  in  Korea. 


i 

' » • 


,.'r;r 

‘b 

> 


1 


W W' 


1 


I ' 


> 


ir  ' r.  'fJ 


1 A * 

Ja^  f 


0 


INDIGNITIES  TO  MISSIONAEIES 


186 


The  incident  that  occurred  to  the  Rev.  John  Thomas, 
a British  subject,  was  of  a more  violent  character. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  was  on  a tour  in  South  Choong 
Chung  Province.  On  March  20,  he  was  suddenly  at- 
tacked by  Japanese  soldiers  and  civilians,  without  the 
slightest  provocation,  while  he  was  quietly  standing 
by  the  roadside.  When  he  produced  his  passport,  it 
was  thrown  on  the  ground  and  stamped  on,  as  was 
also  a preaching  permit  which  had  been  given  by  the 
Japanese  Government.  He  was  formerly  a man  of 
splendid  physique.  But  the  cruel  beating  reduced  him 
to  a physical  wreck.  He  displayed  twenty-nine 
wounds  on  his  body  when  examined  at  a mission  hos- 
pital. As  a result,  he  withdrew  from  the  Korean  mis- 
sion field,  being  no  longer  physically  able  to  carry  on 
the  work. 

The  British  Consul-General  at  Seoul  promptly  took 
the  matter  up  with  the  Japanese  authorities.  The 
Japanese  apologized  for  the  assault  and  5,000  yen 
($2,500)  was  paid  as  damages.  This  is  a high  tribute 
to  the  respect  that  the  Japanese  Government  has  for 
British  subjects  when  we  consider  that  not  even  nom- 
inal apologies  were  offered  when  American  women 
were  assaulted  by  Japanese  soldiers. 

The  comment  made  by  the  Japan  Chronicle  on  “ The 
Attack  on  Mr.  Thomas,”  is  worthy  of  note: 

Japanese  correspondents  in  Korea,  who  are  so  fertile 
in  reporting  the  misdeeds  of  the  missionaries,  were  ab- 
solutely silent  on  the  subject  of  the  attack  on  the  Rev. 
John  Thomas  of  the  Oriental  Missionary  Society,  on 
March  20.  . . . Mr.  Thomas  was,  on  his  release,  re- 


186 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


quested  to  sign  a paper  in  Japanese,  but  sensibly  refused 
to  do  so,  as  he  could  not  understand  its  purport.  It  was 
evidently  for  the  purpose  of  exonerating  the  culprits. 

The  manner  in  which  this  case  has  been  dealt  with  may 
be  instructively  compared  with  the  sort  of  demands  which 
would  be  made  if  such  a thing  had  happened  to  a Japa- 
nese gentleman  in  China,  and  the  silence  of  the  Japanese 
press  on  the  subject  may  be  compared  with  the  storm 
which  would  have  broken  had  the  nationalities  been  dif- 
ferent. Even  the  Seoul  Press  heard  nothing  of  Mr. 
Thomas’  case.’ 

It  is  Japan’s  policy  to  keep  Korea  completely  iso- 
lated from  the  outside  world,  and  the  missionaries 
stand  in  their  way.  Although  they  remain  strictly 
neutral  in  political  matters  and  are  subservient  to  the 
Japanese,  yet  they  cannot  but  observe  what  is  taking 
place  in  the  peninsula;  therefore,  their  presence  is  not 
wanted  by  the  powers  that  be.  “ There  is  little  doubt,” 
writes  W.  W.  Willoughby,  the  eipinent  American  au- 
thority on  the  Far  Eastern  situation,  “ that  if  treaty 
engagements  and  other  considerations  did  not  prevent, 
the  Japanese  would  be  glad  to  prohibit  Christian  mis- 
sionary work  in  Korea.”  ’ 

^ Japan  Chronicle,  June  5,  1919. 

’ \V.  W.  Willoughby,  “Japan  and  Korea,’’  The  Unpartizan  Re- 
view, January,  1920,  pp.  24-42. 


XT 


THE  MOVEMENT  TO  RESTORE 
INDEPENDENCE 

JAPAN,  in  a true  sense,  has  never  conquered 
Korea,  and  the  Korean  people  have  never  recog- 
nized the  Japanese  as  the  rightful  masters  of  their 
land.  After  entering  the  country  with  its  military 
forces  at  the  beginning  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War  on 
terms  definitely  guaranteeing  the  political  independ- 
ence and  territorial  integrity  of  Korea,  Japan  re- 
mained, gradually  shifting  her  position,  through  pres- 
sure of  this  military  occupation  thus  peaceably  ob- 
tained in  the  first  instance,  from  that  of  a friendly 
neighbour  to  adviser,  from  advisership  to  protectorate 
and  from  protectorate  to  final  annexation.  Through 
the  most  elaborate  system  of  publicity  propaganda 
and  diplomatic  manoeuvres,  Japan  created  an  impres- 
sion in  the  West  that  she  was  absorbing  Korea  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Korean  people.  Simultaneously, 
military  suppression  of  the  most  rigid  character  was 
employed  in  Korea  to  crush  the  nationalistic  move- 
ment of  the  Koreans. 

The  Korean  people  did  not  all  submit  to  Japanese 
domination  so  peaceably  as  the  West  had  supposed. 
When  the  Korean  army  was  disbanded  in  July,  1907, 
the  soldiers  of  Major  Pak’s  battalion  fought  and  died 
to  the  last  man  against  the  overwhelming  Japanese 

187 


188 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


forces.  “ Their  gallant  defense  excited  the  greatest 
admiration  even  among  their  enemies,  and  it  was  no- 
table that  for  a few  days,  at  least,  the  Japanese  spoke 
with  more  respect  of  Korea  and  the  Korean  people 
than  they  had  ever  done  before.”  ‘ 

Thousands  of  Koreans  organized  into  volunteer 
bands  to  fight,  without  arms,  the  Japanese  army. 
They  were  described  in  the  Japanese  press  dispatches 
as  bandits.  But  they  were  no  more  bandits  than  were 
Washington’s  Continental  Army  or  Garibaldi’s  Volun- 
teers. In  so  far  as  I know,  F.  A.  McKenzie  is  the 
only  white  man  who  ever  visited  the  fighting  districts 
of  the  Korean  volunteers.  After  describing  the  hero- 
ism and  suffering  of  the  Koreans  in  a hopeless  struggle 
against  some  20,000  regulars  of  the  Japanese  army, 
Mr.  McKenzie  concludes: 

The  Koreans  continued  their  fight  until  1915,  when, 
according  to  Japanese  official  statements,  the  rebellion 
was  finally  suppressed.  One  can  only  faintly  imagine  the 
hardships  these  mountaineers  and  young  men  of  the 
plains,  tiger  hunters  and  old  soldiers  must  have  under- 
gone. The  taunts  about  Korean  “ cowardice  ” and 
” apathy  ” were  beginning  to  lose  their  force.* 

But  fighting  still  goes  on  in  the  remote  districts  of 
Korea.  The  clash  between  2,000  Koreans  and  the 
Japanese  army  at  Eun  Chin  in  February,  1920,*  and 
the  more  recent  clash  between  Koreans  and  the  Japa- 

^F.  A.  McKenzie,  The  Tragedy  of  Korea,  Chapter  XIII. 

“ F.  A.  McKenzie,  Korec^s  Fight  for  Freedom,  p.  170. 

* London  Dispatch,  February  9,  1920  (Chicago  Daily  Tribune, 
February  10,  1920). 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  189 


nese  garrison  at  Hunchun,  Manchuria,  with  the  sub- 
sequent dispatching  of  5,000  Japanese  soldiers  to  the 
troubled  district  in  Manchuria,  are  the  signs  of  itJ 
Only  the  Japanese  Government  no  longer  calls  these 
fighting  Koreans  bandits.  They  are  called  Bolsheviki, 
knowing  th^t  the  name  Bolsheviki  would  suggest  an 
odium  in  America  and  Western  Europe  for  these 
Koreans  who  are  fighting  to  recover  their  lost  country. 
The  truth  is  that  they  are  neither  Bolsheviki  nor  ban- 
dits. They  are  militant  nationalists  who  prefer  death 
to  living  under  Japanese  rule.  A large  number  of 
these  militant  nationalists  now  reside  in  Manchuria 
and  Siberia  ready  and  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice 
for  the  emancipation  of  their  nation  from  alien  domi- 
nation. A recent  dispatch  from  the  Far  Eastern  Cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  Tribune  gives  a succinct 
and  clear  description  of  these  warring  bands  of  Korean 
patriots: 

In  Manchuria  and  Siberia  are  nearly  a million  Koreans 
who  have  been  forced  to  leave  their  native  land.  It  is 
with  these  the  protagonists  of  force  plan  to  work.  That 
they  are  drilling  many  of  these  is  known,  as  is  the  fact 
that  raids  have  been  made  by  such  bands  on  isolated  Japa- 
nese posts  along  the  Korean-Siberian  border.  With  money 
that  is  contributed  voluntarily  by  Koreans  inside  and  out- 
side Korea,  arms  are  being  bought  from  Siberians  and 
bands  fitted  out.  The  hope  of  the  Koreans  of  this  school, 
a distant  hope,  they  realize,  is  that  some  day  these  bands 
will  be  numerous  enough,  strong  enough  and  well  enough 
trained  for  an  organized  effort  to  drive  the  Japanese  out 
of  Korea. 

'Press  Dispatch  from  Tokyo,  October  17,  1920. 


190 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


It  is  the  existence  of  such  bands  that  has  given  rise  to 
reports  that  the  Koreans  are  allying  themselves  with  the 
Bolsheviki.  This  is  true  only  in  a certain  light.  It  is 
true  that  the  Russians  are  egging  on  such  Koreans,  for 
the  Russians  have  set  themselves  to  oppose  and  obstruct 
the  Japanese  in  every  possible  way.  Also,  they  are  look- 
ing for  a possible  partner  when  they  are  in  a position  to 
challenge  the  presence  of  the  Japanese  in  Siberia.  Also, 
it  is  true  that  the  Koreans  are  taking  what  help  they  can 
get  from  the  Siberians.  This  is  no  way  because  they 
subscribe  to  Bolshevik  doctrine.  It  is  because  they  are 
dominated  by  but  one  aim — to  free  their  country  from 
Japanese  rule.  To  realize  that  aim  they  will  accept  help 
from  any  source,  whether  Red  Russia  or  white  America.’ 

But  the  saner  element  of  the  Korean  people  saw 
from  the  beginning  the  hopelessness  of  their  cause  on 
the  field  of  military  combat  with  Japan.  Although 
they  agreed  with  their  militant  brethren  that  the  Japa- 
nese in  Korea  must  be  driven  out  and  Korea  restored 
to  the  Koreans,  yet  they  differed  in  the  methods  to  be 
pursued.  They  believed  that  the  lasting  results  may 
be  obtained,  under  the  circumstances,  from  evolution- 
ary rather  than  revolutionary  methods.  The  Korean 
people  must  be  thoroughly  educated;  they  must  be 
brought  up  to  the  level  of  material  progress  on  par 
with  the  Japanese;  and  the  civilized  world  in  the  West 
must  be  made  familiar  with  their  aspirations,  so  that 
they  may  depend  on  moral  support,  at  least,  of  the  en- 
lightened West  in  their  final  struggle  for  freedom. 

Japanese  propagandists  in  America  and  Europe  at- 
tempt to  make  it  appear  that  the  Korean  Independence 
‘New  York  Tribune,  October  24,  192a 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  191 


Movement  of  1919  was  brought  about  through  the 
influence  of  Koreans  residing  outside  of  Korea. 
Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Koreans  residing  outside  of  Korea  have 
received  stimulus  and  inspiration  from  the  undaunted 
courage  and  patriotism  of  their  brethren  at  home.  The 
Korean  Independence  Movement  of  1919  was  born  in 
1905  when  Japan  forced  her  protectorate  at  the  point 
of  the  sword.  The  Korean’s  love  of  country  has  been 
learned  in  the  losing  of  it,  and  the  value  of  liberty  in 
the  deprivation  of  it.  The  process  of  denationaliza- 
tion, forced  upon  Korea  by  Japan,  served  as  a crucible 
in  which  Korean  patriotism  was  crystallized.  During 
the  fifteen  years  of  tyrannical  domination,  Japan,  un- 
consciously, and  in  spite  of  herself,  gave  Korea  a new 
hope,  an  ideal  and  a fighting  spirit.  Now  Korea  is  no 
longer  the  Korea  of  traditional  sloth.  A fresh  im- 
pulse has  been  generated  throughout  Korea,  and  the 
awakening  of  a vital  nationalism  has  taken  place.  The 
people  have  become  conscious  of  the  meaning  of  their 
nationhood,  and  are  sacrificing  themselves  for  the  real- 
ization of  it.  They  have  opened  their  eyes  to  the 
world  outside  their  peninsula  and  are  eager  to  fall  in 
with  its  step.  No  longer  can  the  soldier’s  rifle  or  the 
gendarme’s  sword  cow  them.  This  is  the  spirit  of 
new  Korea — the  spirit  which  brought  about  the  Inde- 
pendence Movement  of  1919. 

The  world  war  had  no  small  influence  on  the  grow- 
ing nationalism  of  Korea.  The  war  aims  enunciated 
by  statesmen  of  Allied  nations  that  “ no  people  should 
be  forced  under  a sovereignty  under  which  it  does  not 


192 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


wish  to  live  ” strengthened  the  fighting  spirit  of  the 
Korean  people.  When,  to  the  Peace  Conference  at 
Versailles,  the  claims  of  many  of  the  formerly  extinct 
nations,  including  Poland,  were  presented  for  adjust- 
ment, President  Wilson,  as  the  champion  of  the  rights 
of  oppressed  nationalities,  said  in  an  address: 

We  are  here  to  see  that  every  people  in  the  world  shall 
choose  its  own  masters  and  guide  its  own  destinies,  not 
as  we  wish,  but  as  it  wishes. 

If  any  people  in  the  world  were  entitled  to  self- 
determination,  the  Koreans  were  the  people.  Their 
ancient  civilization,  their  independent  history,  their 
homogeneous  population,  the  illegal  occupation  of 
their  country  by  Japanese  against  their  will,  and  the 
subsequent  tyranny  and  oppression  that  would  forfeit 
any  country  the  right  to  rule  another — all  pointed  to 
the  justice  of  their  claim.  Their  cause  must  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Allied  Tribunal  of  justice.  This  inten- 
tion of  theirs  was  precipitated  by  the  action  of  the 
Japanese  Government  in  Korea.  It  is  a curious  fact 
that  clever  people,  in  their  desire  to  be  too  clever,  often 
show  stupidity,  and  deceitful  folk  in  their  method  of 
deceiving  others  frequently  deceive  themselves.  Not 
infrequently  the  Japanese  have  shown  these  traits  in 
their  dealings  with  the  Korean  people. 

In  December,  1918,  about  a month  after  the  Armi- 
stice was  declared,  the  Japanese  Government  in  Korea 
circulated  a petition  among  the  Koreans  throughout 
the  country.  It  was  a petition  to  be  presented  to  the 
Peace  Conference  to  the  effect  that  tlie  Korean  people 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  193 


were  sincerely  grateful  to  Japan  for  her  benevolent 
rule  over  their  country,  and  the,  Koreans  and  the  Japa- 
nese were  fast  merging  into  one  people  under  the  most 
benign  of  all  rulers — the  Mikado.  Other  nationalities 
might  claim  the  right  to  self-determination,  but  that 
principle  should  in  no  wise  apply  to  the  Korean  people, 
since  it  was  their  explicit  wish  to  be  loyal  Japanese 
subjects. 

Leading  Koreans  in  every  community  were  com- 
pelled to  sign  this  petition  by  the  gendarmes,  and  they 
had  no  alternative.  The  old  Emperor  absolutely  re- 
fused to  sign  this  petition,  preferring  death  to  further 
sealing  the  fate  of  his  people.  It  had  been  the  life- 
long regret  of  the  Emperor  that  he  did  not  risk  his  life 
in  1905  when  the  protectorate  was  forced  upon  him. 
Now,  he  was  ready  to  go  the  full  length  towards  mak- 
ing reparation  and  to  give  the  full  measure  of  devotion 
to  his  people.  “ Do  your  worst,”  he  said  to  the  Japa- 
nese, “ I am  ready  for  the  inevitable.”  And  they  did. 
He  was  poisoned  on  January  20,  1919.  The  Japanese 
at  first  attempted  to  suppress  the  news,  but  when  they 
found  out  that  that  was  impossible,  they  announced  on 
January  22  that  the  ex- Emperor’s  death  was  due  to 
apoplexy.  No  Korean  or  foreign  physicians  were  per- 
mitted to  examine  his  body.  It  was  the  opinion  among 
foreign  physicians  in  Seoul,  who  knew  something  of 
the  physical  condition  of  the  ex-ruler,  that  he  was  not 
a fat  man  and  that  his  blood  pressure  was  never  high. 
Besides,  he  had  never  before  shown  any  signs  that 
were  conducive  to  apoplexy.  The  Japanese  officials 
promptly  denied  that  any  petition  was  presented  to 


194 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


him  and  that  he  was  poisoned.'  But,  of  course,  no 
Korean  would  ever  believe  Japanese  official  statements. 

Another  story  became  current  at  this  time.  It  was 
to  the  effect  that  the  Emperor  had  committed  suicide 
as  a protest  against  the  marriage  of  his  son,  formerly 
the  heir  apparent,  to  Princess  Nashimoto  of  Japan. 
The  Japanese  Government  encouraged  the  inter-mar- 
riage between  Korean  and  Japanese  to  quicken  the 
process  of  amalgamation  and  assimilation  in  Korea. 
This  royal  marriage  was  arranged  by  the  Japanese 
Government  to  set  a precedent  for  the  people  to  follow. 
This  was  frowned  upon  both  by  the  ex-Emperor  and 
the  Korean  people,  but  they  had  no  choice.  As  a 
strange  coincidence  the  death  of  the  ex-Emperor  took 
place  on  the  eve  of  the  royal  marriage,  which  gave  the 
feasible  interpretation  that  he  committed  suicide  as  a 
protest.  At  any  rate  the  Koreans  were  convinced  that 
their  former  ruler  did  not  die  a natural  death,  for  he 
was  a virtual  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  and 
they  could  do  with  him  as  they  willed. 

The  story  of  the  ex-Emperor’s  death  spread  like 
wild-fire  among  the  Koreans.  While  living,  the  people 
had  little  love  for  him  because  of  his  failure  to  fight 
Japan  in  1905  when  he  had  a fighting  chance.  * To  be 
sure,  his  fight  would  have  been  a hopeless  one  and  the 
result  a foregone  conclusion.  But  he  should  have  died 
- fighting.  The  mere  fact  that  he  never  sanctioned  Ja- 
pan’s absorption  of  his  country  was  not  sufficient  to 

’ This  was  rumour  at  first,  but  later  confirmed  by  Korean  palace 
attendants,  who  saw  the  Japanese  committing  the  deed,  and  saw 
the  corpse  afterwards. 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTORE  INDEPENDENCE  196 


hold  the  love  and  confidence  of  the  people.  But  now 
he  has  paid  his  debt  to  his  fellow-countrymen  in  full 
measure.  He  has  proved  a martyr,  though  too  late. 
Besides,  the  Koreans  looked  upon  him  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  Korea  of  yesterday,  when  the  Kingdom 
enjoyed  an  independent  entity  in  the  council  of  nations. 
In  his  death  the  people  felt  the  passing  of  the  old  na- 
tion with  its  tender  memories  and  a peculiar  sense  of 
pathos.  The  stupidity  of  the  Japanese  Government 
intensified  the  Korean’s  national  sentiment  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ex-Emperor’s  death. 

When  the  Meiji  Emperor  died  in  1912,  it  was 
flashed  all  over  Korea,  and  the  Koreans  everywhere 
were  compelled  to  mourn  the  dead  ruler  of  Japan. 
But  the  death  of  the  ex-ruler  of  Korea  was  not  even 
announced  in  official  gazettes  of  the  Government. 
Schools,  stores  and  Government  offices  were  not  or- 
dered to  close  for  a day  out  of  respect,  as  was  done  in 
the  case  of  the  Meiji  Emperor’s  death  in  1912.  It 
was  also  decided  by  the  Japanese  authorities  to  conduct 
the  funeral  according  to  the  Japanese  custom  within 
the  city,  and  turn  the  body  over  to  the  Koreans  after 
it  had  passed  outside  the  city  wall.  Needless  to  say, 
all  these  things  enhanced  the  Korean  sense  of  national 
humiliation. 

The  atmosphere  was  becoming  tense,, and  the  Korean 
leaders,  who  had  already  sent  their  representatives  to 
Paris  to  plead  the  Korean  case  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, were  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  situation. 
Long  before  this  the  country  had  been  completely  or- 
ganized in  districts,  with  an  executive  committee  in 


196 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


each,  to  carry  on  the  work  for  independence.  Now, 
this  machinery  of  secret  organization  was  set  in  mo- 
tion. 

According  to  the  time-honoured  custom  of  the 
Orient,  the  Koreans  were  permitted  to  gather  in  cities 
to  mourn  their  deceased  ruler  with  due  ceremony. 
This,  in  so  far  as  I know,  was  the  first  time  since  the 
country  was  annexed  that  the  Koreans  were  allowed 
to  gather  in  large  numbers.  The  Japanese  authorities 
had,  hitherto,  prohibited  the  Koreans  from  congregat- 
ing or  travelling  in  groups.  The  people  were  required 
to  have  police  passports  before  they  could  go  from 
place  to  place,  even  in  the  same  province.  The  Japa- 
nese authorities  evidently  thought  that  allowing  the 
Koreans  to  air  their  grievances  in  the  form  of  mourn- 
ing the  dead  ruler  would  relieve  the  bottled-up  feeling 
of  national  injury.  The  funeral  was  set  for  March 
3;  the  Koreans  were  given  liberty  to  mourn  infor- 
mally or  with  due  ceremony,  individually  or  in  large 
groups. 

Meanwhile,  important  conferences  among  the 
leaders  took  place.  Something  must  be  done  on  the 
day  of  the  funeral  to  reconsecrate  their  liberty,  to  re- 
vitalize Korean  nationality  and  to  let  the  outside  world 
know  the  true  condition  of  Korea.  What  method 
should  they  pursue?  Two  schools  were  represented 
in  the  conference — that  of  physical  force  and  that  of 
moral  courage.  The  militant  element  argued  that  the 
Koreans  have  suffered  long  enough,  that  they  should 
set  a day  on  which  all  Korea  should  rise  and  kill  every 
Japanese  in  the  land.  There  was  only  one  Japanese 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  197 


to  every  sixty  Koreans  in  the  land,  and  it  could  be  ac- 
complished. Come  what  may,  they  would  be  ready  to 
meet  the  consequences.  But  thanks  to  the  influence  of 
Christianity,  the  Christians,  representing  the  school  of 
moral  suasion,  opposed  this  program  of  wholesale  mas- 
sacres. They  reasoned  with  the  militant  advocates 
that  such  a procedure  was  not  only  fundamentally 
wrong,  but  the  Koreans  would  pay  the  heavy  penalty 
and  would  gain  nothing  in  the  end.  That  would  give 
Japan  an  ample  excuse  to  bring  her  entire  military  and 
naval  forces  to  massacre  the  Korean  population,  and 
the  world  would  justify  her  action.  The  Koreans,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  no  arms  and  no  place  to  procure 
arms.  There  was  not  one  chance  in  a thousand  by 
which  the  Koreans  would  gain  anything  by  resorting 
to  force.  The  Christian  policy  carried  the  day.  It 
was  decided  that  they  should  issue  the  Proclamation  of 
Independence  on  the  day  of  the  ex-Emperor’s  funeral 
declaring  that  Korea  was  free.  The  people  should 
have  a grand  celebration  of  their  freedom — waving 
Korean  flags  and  shouting  Mansei!  The  people  should 
calmly  refuse  to  recognize  Japanese  authority,  but  no 
violence,  under  any  circumstances,  should  be  re- 
sorted to. 

After  this  program  was  agreed  upon  by  all  the 
leaders,  instructions  were  sent  to  the  Provinces  to  this 
effect.  Thirty-three  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of 
the  people  were  chosen  to  sign  the  Proclamation  as  the 
representatives  of  the  people.  Of  this  group,  there 
were,  according  to  religious  classification,  fifteen 
Christians,  fifteen  Chuntokyo  followers  and  three  Bud- 


198 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


dhists.  Chuntokyo  was  founded  right  after  the  pro- 
tectorate was  established  by  Son  Byung-hi  as  a po- 
litico-religious organization.  The  literal  translation 
of  the  name  is  the  Religion  of  the  Heavenly  Way.  It 
recognizes  the  existence  of  the  one  Supreme  Mind, 
Hananim,  which  the  Korean  people  have  always  recog- 
nized. In  it  are  embodied  the  principles  of  Christian 
fellowship,  Confucian  dignity  and  Buddhist  philos- 
ophy. The  Japanese  Government  encouraged  the 
propagation  of  this  cult  as  a counter-active  to  Chris- 
tianity, until  its  membership  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Independence  Movement  of  1919  reached  a million 
and  a half.  Its  leader.  Son  Byung-hi,  is  an  interesting 
character.  His  youth  was  spent  in  the  study  of  Con- 
fucian classics  and  Buddhist  philosophy.  He  then 
went  to  Japan  and  spent  many  years  in  the  study  of 
material  civilization  imported  from  the  West.  Later, 
he  was  absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  the  principles 
as  found  in  the  Bible.  When  he  found  that  his  activi- 
ties among  his  people  would  be  limited  by  the  Japanese 
in  Korea  unless  he  sided  with  them,  he  created  an  im- 
pression that  he  was  pro-Korean  without  being  anti- 
Japanese.  The  Japanese  thought  they  had  found  a 
powerful  ally  in  Son  to  fight  Christianity  in  Korea. 
But  when  the  hour  struck  Son  proved  to  be  an  entirely 
different  man.  He  was  a man  of  action  and  of  prac- 
tical ideas  as  well  as  an  idealist  and  a dreamer.  He 
was  not  only  the  spiritual  guide,  but  also  the  political 
leader  of  his  followers.  He  now  headed  the  list  of  the 
thirty-three  immortals  of  Korea. 

Two  other  men  of  equal  eminence  were  Pastor  Kil 


o 


TWO  PROMINENT  LEADERS  IN  THE  INDEPENDENCE  MOVEMENT 


t 


% 


* 


i 


-r  ^ 


V ■ * 


f - 


iw 


Sl 


«* 


mS- 


•^■i  m Z.  - ^~ 


^W"*'  * 


r .<#■ 


41 


1 


4 


f» 


MOVEMEiJT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  199 


and  Yi  Sang-jai.  Pastor  Kil  for  many  years  has  been 
the  pastor  of  the  largest  church  in  Korea.  His  name 
is  a household  word  among  Korean  Christians,  and  his 
moral  leadership  was  recognized  by  Christians  and 
non-Christians  alike.  Yi  Sang-jai,  once  Secretary  to 
the  Korean  Legation  at  Washington,  was  now  a Y.  M. 
C.  A.  leader,  but  he  was  held  in  universal  esteem,  not 
only  by  Koreans,  but  also  by  Westerners  in  Korea. 

As  the  plans  were  being  completed,  the  Japanese  of- 
ficials evidently  had  an  inkling  that  something  was 
brewing,  although  they  did  not  know  what  it  was. 
Orders  were  issued  to  the  police  all  over  the  country 
to  take  due  precaution  for  what  contingencies  that 
might  occur  on  March  3.  The  Korean  leaders 
promptly  changed  the  date  of  their  independence  dem- 
onstrations from  March  3 to  March  1,  thus  getting 
ahead  of  the  police. 

When  the  day  arrived,  plans  were  completed,  or- 
ganization perfected,  and  the  stage  set  for  the  demon- 
stration of  what  Valentine  McClatchy,  the  Publisher 
of  the  Sacramento  Bee,  who  was  in  Korea  during  the 
first  week  of  March,  calls  “ The  Greatest  Example  in 
World  History  of  an  Organized  Passive  Resistance 
for  an  Ideal.”  On  Saturday,  March  1,  at  two  o’clock 
p.  M.,  the  Independence  Proclamation  was  read  to  ex- 
pectant crowds  gathered  in  every  city  in  Korea,  with 
cheers  of  Mansei,  Mansei,  Mansei! 

The  Independence  Proclamation  follows: 

The  Proclamation  of  Korean  Independence 

We  herewith  proclaim  the  independence  of  Korea  and 


200 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


the  liberty  of  the  Korean  people.  We  tell  it  to  the  world 
in  witness  of  the  equality  of  all  nations,  and  we  pass  it  on 
to  our  posterity  as  their  inherent  right. 

We  make  this  proclamation,  having  back  of  us  a history 
of  forty- three  centuries  and  20,000,000  united,  loyal  peo- 
ple. We  take  this  step  to  insure  to  our  children  for  all 
time  to  come,  life  and  liberty  in  accord  with  the  awaken- 
ing consciousness  of  this  new  era.  This  is  the  clear  lead- 
ing of  God,  the  moving  principle  of  the  present  age,  the 
just  claim  of  the  whole  human  race.  It  is  something  that 
cannot  be  stamped  out,  or  stifled,  or  gagged,  or  sup- 
pressed by  any  means. 

Victims  of  an  older  age,  when  brute  force  and  the  spirit 
of  plunder  ruled,  we  have  come  after  these  long  thousands 
of  years  to  experience  the  agony  of  ten  years  of  foreign 
oppression,  with  every  loss  to  the  right  to  live,  every 
restriction  of  the  freedom  of  thought,  every  damage  done 
to  the  dignity  of  life,  every  opportunity  lost  for  a share 
in  the  intelligent  advance  of  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

Assuredly,  if  the  defects  of  the  past  are  to  be  rectified, 
if  the  wrongs  of  the  present  are  to  be  righted,  if  future 
oppression  is  to  be  avoided,  if  thought  is  to  be  set  free,  if 
right  of  action  is  to  be  given  a place,  if  we  are  to  attain 
to  any  way  of  progress,  if  we  are  to  deliver  our  children 
from  the  painful  heritage  of  shame,  if  we  are  to  leave 
blessing  and  happiness  intact  for  those  who  succeed  us, 
the  first  of  all  necessary  things  is  the  complete  independ- 
ence of  our  people.  What  cannot  our  twenty  millions  do, 
with  hearts  consecrated  to  liberty,  in  this  day  when  hu- 
man nature  and  conscience  are  making  a stand  for  truth 
and  right  ? What  barrier  can  we  not  break,  what  puipose 
can  we  not  accomplish  ? 

We  have  no  desire  to  accuse  Japan  of  breaking  many 
solemn  treaties  since  1876,  nor  to  single  out  specially  the 
teachers  in  the  schools  or  the  Government  officials  who 
treat  the  heritage  of  our  ancestors  as  a colony  of  their 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  201 


own,  and  our  people  and  our  civilization  as  a nation  of 
savages,  and  who  delight  only  in  beating  us  down  and 
bringing  us  under  their  heel. 

We  have  no  wish  to  find  special  fault  with  Japan’s 
lack  of  fairness  or  her  contempt  for  our  civilization  and 
the  principles  on  which  her  state  rests;  we,  who  have 
greater  cause  to  reprimand  ourselves,  need  not  spend 
time  in  finding  fault  with  others ; neither  need  we, 
who  require  so  urgently  to  build  for  the  future,  spend 
useless  hours  over  what  is  past  and  gone.  Our  urgent 
need  to-day  is  the  rebuilding  of  this  house  of  ours  and 
not  the  discussion  of  who  has  broken  it  down,  or  what  has 
caused  its  ruin.  Our  work  is  to  clear  the  future  of 
defects  in  accord  with  the  earnest  dictates  of  conscience. 
Let  us  not  be  filled  with  bitterness  or  resentment  over  past 
agonies  or  past  occasions  for  anger. 

Our  part  is  to  influence  the  Japanese  Government, 
dominated  as  it  is  by  the  old  idea  of  brute  force  which 
thinks  to  run  counter  to  reason  and  universal  law,  so  that 
it  will  change  and  act  honestly  and  in  accord  with  the 
principles  of  right  and  truth. 

The  result  of  annexation,  brought  about  against  the 
will  of  the  Korean  people,  is  that  the  Japanese  are  con- 
cerned only  for  their  own  gain,  and  by  a false  set  of 
figures  show  a profit  and  loss  account  between  us  two 
peoples  most  untrue,  digging  a trench  of  everlasting 
resentment  deeper  and  deeper  the  farther  they  go. 

Ought  not  the  way  of  enlightened  courage  to  be  to  cor- 
rect the  evils  of  the  past  by  ways  that  are  sincere,  and 
by  true  sympathy  and  friendly  feeling  make  a new  world 
in  which  the  two  peoples  will  be  equally  blessed? 

To  bind  by  force  twenty  millions  of  resentful  Koreans 
will  mean  not  only  loss  of  peace  forever  for  this  part  of 
the  Far  East,  but  also  will  increase  the  ever-growing 
suspicions  of  four  hundred  millions  of  Chinese — upon 
whom  depends  the  safety  of  the  Far  East— besides 


202 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


strengthening  the  hatred  of  Japan.  From  this  all 
the  rest  of  the  East  will  suffer.  To-day  Korean  inde- 
pendence will  mean  not  only  life  and  happiness  for 
us,  but  also  Japan’s  departure  from  an  evil  path  and 
her  exaltation  to  the  place  of  true  protector  of  the  East, 
so  that  China  too  v^ould  put  all  fear  of  Japan  aside. 
This  thought  comes  from  no  minor  resentment,  but  from 
a large  hope  for  the  future  welfare  and  blessing  of  man- 
kind. 

A new  era  awakes  before  our  eyes,  the  old  world  of 
force  is  gone,  and  the  new  world  of  righteousness  and 
truth  is  here.  Out  of  the  experience  and  travail  of  the 
old  world  arises  this  light  on  the  affairs  of  life.  Insects 
stifled  by  their  foe,  the  snows  of  winter,  are  also 
awakened  at  this  time  of  the  year  by  the  breezes  of  spring 
and  the  warm  light  of  the  sun  upon  them. 

It  is  the  day  of  the  restoration  of  all  things,  on  the 
full  tide  of  which  we  set  forth  without  delay  or  fear. 
We  desire  a full  measure  of  satisfaction  in  the  way  of 
life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  an  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  what  is  in  us  for  the  glory  of  our  people. 
In  this  hope  we  go  forward. 

We  Pledge  Three  Items  of  Agreement 

1.  This  work  of  ours  is  in  behalf  of  truth,  justice, 
and  life,  undertaken  at  the  request  of  our  people,  in  order 
to  make  known  their  desire  for  liberty.  Let  no  violence 
be  done  to  any  one. 

2.  Let  those  who  follow  us  show  everj'  hour  with 
gladness  this  same  spirit. 

3.  Let  all  things  be  done  with  singleness  of  purpose, 
so  that  our  behaviour  to  the  very  end  may  be  honourable 
and  upright. 

The  42526  year  of  the  Kingdom  of  Korea,  3d  Month, 
1st  day. 


Representatives  of  the  people. 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  203 


The  signatures  attached  to  the  document  are ; 

Son  Byung  Hi,  Kil  Sun  Chu,  Yi  Pil  Chu,  Paik  Long 
Sung,  Kim  Won  Kyu,  Kim  Pyung  Cho,  Kim  Chang 
Choon,  Kwon  Dong  Chin,  Kwon  Byung  Duk,  Na  Yong 
Whan,  Na  In  Hup,  Yang  Chun  Paik,  Yang  Han  Mook, 
Lew  Yer  Dai,  Yi  Kop  Sung,  Yi  Mung  Yong,  Yi  Seung 
Hoon,  Yi  Chong  Hoon,  Yi  Chong  II,  Lim  Yei  Whan, 
Pak  Choon  Seung,  Pak  Hi  Do,  Pak  Tong  Wan,  Sin 
Hong  Sik,  Sin  Suk  Ku,  Oh  Sei  Chang,  Oh  Wha  Young, 
Chung  Choon  Su,  Choi  Sung  Mo,  Choi  In,  Han  Yong 
Woon,  Hong  Byimg  Ki,  Hong  Ki  Cho. 


XII 


THE  MOVEMENT  TO  RESTORE  INDEPEND- 
ENCE {Continued) 

“ T N our  opinion  this  Proclamation  will  stand  on  a 
I plane  of  exaltation  with  our  own  Declaration 
of  Independence,”  said  the  Los  Angeles  Times 
commenting  editorially  on  the  Korean  Independence 
Proclamation.  “ Let  us  listen  to  the  voice  of  Son 
Byung-hi.  It  is  the  voice  of  a prophet  crying  in  the 
wilderness.  . . . May  God  grant  a mad  world  the 
grace  to  stop  and  listen  to  that  voice.”  * “ The  whole 

plan  had  a loftiness  and  sober  dignity  of  thought  and 
speech,  in  which  some  fine  old  strain  of  Confucianism 
mingled  with  rich  and  fervent  Biblical  phraseology,” 
said  Sidney  Greenbie  in  a magazine  article  on  the  Ko- 
rean Independence  Movement.  “ It  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  revolutions  in  history — and  one 
which  might  well  put  any  Christian  nation  to  shame. 
The  instructions  issued  should  be  immortal  in  the  an- 
nals of  revolt.”  “ 

The  conduct  of  the  thirty-three  signers  of  the  Proc- 
lamation was  truly  worthy  of  these  commendations. 
Two  of  their  members  were  sent  to  Shanghai  the  day 
before  the  Proclamation  was  issued  to  carry  the  news 

’Editorial,  “The  Dignity  of  Life,”  Los  Angeles  Times,  April 
6,  1919. 

’ Sidney  Greenbie,  “ Kbrea  Asserts  Herself,”  Asia,  September, 
1919,  PP-  921-926. 


204 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTORE  INDEPENDENCE  205 


to  the  outside  world.  Pastor  Kil  was  late  in  arriving 
from  Pyeng  Yang.  The  remaining  thirty  met  in  the 
Bright  Moon,  the  most  famous  cafe  in  Korea,  to  dine 
together  for  the  last  time.  It  was  one  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant and  romantic  banquets  in  history.  Every  one 
of  them  present  knew  what  was  before  him.  The  die 
was  cast,  and  the  hour  was  approaching.  Many  of^ 
them  were  victims  at  the  Conspiracy  Trial  of  1912-13. 
Well  they  remember  that  Pastor  Kil’s  son  and  a num- 
ber of  others  died  from  the  effects  of  Japanese  torture. 
They  knew  that  at  the  best  they  must  undergo  unspeak- 
able torture  and  flogging,  and  at  the  worst  they  would 
be  put  to  death.  They  had  no  delusions.  They  were 
more  than  calm  and  collected;  they  were  happy  and 
cheerful  to  face  the  approaching  fate. 

After  drinking  a toast  to  the  liberty  and  independ- 
ence of  the  Korean  people,  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  read  and  Mansei  cheers  were  given. 
A copy  of  the  Declaration  was  sent  to  the  Governor- 
General  with  the  compliments  of  the  signers.  Then 
they  called  up  the  Central  Police  Station,  informing 
the  shocked  officials  of  what  they  had  done  and  added 
that  they  were  waiting  for  the  arrest.  The  police  au- 
tomobile rushed  to  the  cafe  and  carried  them  to  the 
police  station.  On  their  way  they  were  cheered  by  the 
surging  crowd  throbbing  with  new  impulse.  Old  Ko- 
rean flags  were  seen  everywhere.  The  nation  was 
resurrected!  When  Pastor  Kil  arrived,  having  been 
temporarily  delayed  on  his  journey  from  Pyeng  Yang, 
he  went  to  the  police  station  and  asked  to  be  arrested, 
that  he  might  take  his  place  with  his  comrades. 


206 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


It  was  not  long  before  the  Independence  Demonstra- 
tion took  place  in  every  town  and  village  in  Korea. 
To  all  foreigners  the  movement  came  like  a thunder- 
bolt from  a clear  sky.  The  missionaries,  who  had 
hereto  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Korean  Chris- 
tians, were  purposely  kept  in  total  darkness  of  the 
plans  in  order  to  free  them  from  any  possible  compli- 
cation with  the  Japanese  Government.  The  Govern- 
ment officials,  who  were  cock-sure  that  they  had  the 
stranglehold  on  the  Korean  people,  and  that  the  Ko- 
reans were  utterly  incapable  of  organizing  any  move- 
ment on  a large  scale,  were  completely  taken  by  sur- 
prise. They  were  nonplussed  and  knew  of  no  other 
method  to  pursue  to  suppress  the  movement  except 
that  of  force.  The  methods  of  suppression  will  be  de- 
scribed in  the  next  chapter.  Here  we  are  concerned 
only  with  the  extent  of  the  movement. 

One  peculiar  feature  of  Japanese  rule  in  Korea, 
which  is  found  in  no  other  country  in  the  world,  is  its 
spy  system.  It  is  incredible  from  a Westerner’s  point 
of  view.  It  is  true,  none  the  less.  In  Korea  every 
one  must  be  registered  and  is  given  a number,  which  is 
known  to  the  police.  Every  time  he  leaves  his  village 
or  town  he  must  register  at  the  police  station  and  state 
fully  the  business  he  intends  to  transact  and  his  desti- 
nation. The  policeman  telephones  to  this  place,  and  if 
the  registrant’s  actions  are  in  any  way  at  variance  with 
his  report,  he  is  liable  to  arrest  and  mistreatment.  A 
strict  classification  is  kept  on  the  basis  of  a man’s  edu- 
cation, influence,  position,  etc.  As  soon  as  a man  be- 
gins to  show  ability  or  qualities  of  leadership,  he  is  put 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  207 


in  class  “ a,”  detectives  are  set  on  his  trail,  and  from 
thenceforth  he  becomes  a marked  man  hounded  wher- 
ever he  goes.  Even  children  are  watched  or  bribed  for 
information.  If  a man  escapes  the  country,  his  num- 
ber is  traced,  his  family  or  relatives  are  arrested  and 
perchance  tortured  until  they  reveal  his  whereabouts. 
A man  is  likely  to  disappear  any  day  and  perhaps  not 
be  heard  of  again.  Officially  authorized  spies  are  sta- 
tioned in  every  town  and  village ; they  force  their  pres- 
ence even  into  private  household  parties.  Their  acts 
are  backed  by  the  Japanese  gendarmerie,  and  woe  to 
the  native  who  dares  to  resent  their  intrusion!  He 
will  be  charged  with  treason  as  opposing  the  Govern- 
ment authorities!  The  Japanese  enlist  as  sub-spies  a 
large  number  of  the  worst  scoundrels  in  the  country. 
These  incorrigibles  are  paid  good  salaries,  and  in  many 
cases  given  rewards  for  the  merit  of  their  work;  not 
infrequently  the  well-to-do  natives  are  blackmailed  by 
these  spies,  and  the  Government  winks  at  the  crime. 

Such  abuse  of  the  method  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected, but  the  worst  feature  of  it  all  is  that  it  is  often 
used  as  a machine  by  the  Government  in  relentlessly 
crushing  out  the  spirit  of  nationalism.  If  a Korean  is 
suspected  of  keeping  alive  the  spirit  of  his  forefathers, 
the  Government  instructs  its  spies  to  bring  certain 
charges  against  him.  Upon  the  testimony  of  the  spies, 
he  will  be  imprisoned,  his  property  will  be  confiscated, 
and  he  will  be  punished  in  such  a way  as  to  be  disabled 
for  life;  or  he  may  even  be  executed  on  the  charge  of 
treason.  Like  the  mediaeval  “ Ironwoman  ” that 
crushed  its  victim  without  bloodshed,  this  spy  system 


208 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


of  the  Japanese  administration  in  Korea  removes  from 
the  country  the  ablest  and  best  educated  Koreans  with- 
out technically  violating  the  regulations  of  the  colonial 
policy  of  the  Japanese  Empire/  Indeed,  Baron  Saito, 
the  new  Governor-General,  admitted  the  cynical  truth 
when  he  said  recently  to  an  Asahi  representative  that 
all  the  Koreans  of  sufficient  intelligence  or  force  of 
character  to  lead  their  countrymen  to  higher  things  are 
either  in  prison  or  in  exile.  “ In  that  one  sentence,” 
commented  the  Japan  Chronicle,  “ is  a more  damning 
indictment  than  in  all  that  has  been  written  during  the 
past  year.” 

In  a country  honeycombed  with  Government  spies 
and  surrounded  by  a cordon  of  soldiers,  police  and 
gendarmes,  the  Koreans  organized  the  nation-wide 
revolution  and  completely  outwitted  the  Japanese, 
keeping  them  in  total  ignorance  until  the  last  minute. 
This  illustrates  not  only  the  unity  of  the  people  in  the 
movement,  but  also  the  capacity  of  the  leaders  to  or- 
ganize and  the  willingness  of  the  people  to  follow  the 
lead  along  the  right  direction.  Writing  in  the  New 
York  Times,  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Armstrong,  the  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada,  who  was  in  Korea 
until  March  l7th,  said:  “ Foreigners  marvel  at  the 
ability  and  thoroughness  with  which  the  Koreans  or- 
ganized and  are  carrying  on  the  campaign.  Even  the 
oldest  British  and  American  citizens  had  no  idea  that 

’ For  fuller  discussion  of  the  Japanese  espionage  in  Korea,  see 
the  present  writer’s  The  Oriental  Policy  of  the  United  States, 
Part  II. 


The  Liherly  Roll  at  C'hony-no  Rr<>kc  Its  Long  A Facsimile  Reproduction  of  the  Independence 

Silenc«‘  of  Ten  "S'ears  at  Midnight,  March  3,  loio-  News,  a Korean  Counterpart  of  La  Libre  Belgique. 

This  Rell  of  the  vSila  Dynasty  is  the  same  Size  as  the 
Creat  Rell  at  Moscow,  hut  was  Cast  Eleven  C'en- 
turies  !)efore  It. 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  209 


the  Koreans  were  capable  of  planning  and  conducting 
such  a widespread  rebellion.”  ‘ 

Demonstrations  consisted  of  reading  the  Independ- 
ence Proclamation,  one  or  two  short  addresses  by 
leaders,  then  waving  Korean  flags  and  shouting 
Mansei.  It  was  held  in  front  of  every  one  of  the 
foreign  consulates  in  Seoul.  The  whole  country  was 
mapped  out  in  districts  with  leaders  in  each  to  hold 
these  demonstrations.  In  a city  like  Seoul  or  Pyeng 
Yang,  several  demonstrations  were  held  in  different 
sections  of  the  city  at  the  same  time.  The  old  Liberty 
Bell  in  Chongno  broke  its  long  silence,  the  Korean  flag 
above  the  Independence  Arch  outside  of  Seoul  was 
painted  afresh,  and  the  historic  watchfire  from  the  top 
of  Namsan  in  Seoul  and  Moranbong  in  Pyeng  Yang 
once  again  signalled  freedom. 

It  was  soon  seen  that  all  classes  of  people  were  in- 
volved in  the  movement.  Shopkeepers  closed  their 
stores,  and  policemen,  who  had  worked  under  the 
Japanese,  took  off  their  uniforms  and  joined  the  dem- 
onstrations. The  students  from  both  Government  and 
private  schools  absented  themselves  with  the  result 
that  the  schools  had  to  be  closed.  Farmers  in  the 
country  gathered  in  their  respective  districts  to  cele- 
brate, and  threatened  that  they  would  not  plant  their 
crops  if  independence  was  not  granted. 

The  Korean  employees  on  the  state-owned  railroads 
and  the  street  railway  employees  have  come  out  on  sym- 
pathetic strikes.  And  a careful  examination  of  the  in- 
jured in  the  hospitals  shows  that  the  coolie  class  also  has 
‘New  York  Times,  April  23,  1919. 


210 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


furnished  a proportionate  quota  of  the  people  who  are 
engaged  in  the  uprising. 

If  further  evidence  is  wanted  it  would  seem  to  be 
supplied  by  the  fact  that  the  very  prisoners  in  the  peni- 
tentiary heard  of  the  movement,  made  Korean  flags,  and 
held  a demonstration  until  it  was  put  down  by  force.* 

The  literati,  the  most  conservative  element  of  the 
Korean  population,  also  joined  the  demonstrators.  A 
group  of  them  sent  a petition  to  the  Governor-General, 
demanding  the  withdrawal  of  Japanese  soldiers  from 
Korea  and  the  restoration  of  Korean  independence. 
Needless  to  say,  they  were  promptly  arrested. 

The  extent  of  the  movement  and  how  it  permeated 
through  all  classes  and  strata  of  society  can  easily  be 
realized  when  it  is  noted  that  men  ennobled  by  the 
Japanese  and  considered  true  friends  of  Japan  repudi- 
ated their  titles  and  stood  by  the  demonstrators.  Two 
of  the  most  famous  of  these  nobles  were  Viscounts 
Kim  Yun-sik  and  Yi  Yong-chik.  Viscount  Kim  was 
senior  peer,  head  of  the  Confucian  College,  and  had 
been  active  in  Korean  affairs  for  nearly  three-quarters 
of  a century.  He  was  now  eighty-five,  feeble  and  bed- 
ridden. He  and  his  colleague.  Viscount  Yi,  sent  a dig- 
nified petition  to  the  Governor-General  asking  him  to 
deal  with  the  situation  in  a sympathetic  way  and  to 
stop  the  atrocities  on  the  defenseless.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  petition  to  which  the  Governor-General 
should  have  taken  offense.* 

’ From  an  unpublished  manuscript  of  an  American  missionary 
in  Korea. 

* See  full  text  of  petition,  Appendix  VI. 


MOVEMENT  TO  RESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  211 


The  two  nobles  were  at  once  arrested,  and  with  them 
various  male  members  of  their  families.  Kim  was  so 
ill  that  he  could  not  be  immediately  moved,  and  a 
guard  was  placed  over  his  house.  In  the  trial,  held  at 
Seoul  in  July,  Viscount  Kim  was  sentenced  to  two 
years  of  penal  servitude,  and  Viscount  Yi  to  eighteen 
months. 

The  movement  was  kept  up  despite  military  suppres- 
sion. The  Koreans  were  unflinchingly  determined  to 
continue  their  work  for  freedom  till  the  end.  In  order 
to  do  so,  they  saw  the  necessity  for  creating  organic 
machinery  to  carry  on  the  function.  On  April  33, 
1919,  at  a time  when  the  persecution  was  at  its  height, 
delegates  from  each  of  the  thirteen  provinces  of  Korea 
met  in  Seoul,  framed  a constitution  creating  a Repub- 
lic and  elected  the  first  Ministry. 

The  Constitution,  in  general,  outlined  the  repre- 
sentative form  of  Government,  guaranteeing  to  citi- 
zens such  rights  as  freedom  of  speech,  liberty  of  wor- 
ship, right  of  petition,  equality  before  the  law,  etc. 
The  Ministry  was  composed  of  the  President,  the  Pre- 
mier and  the  Ministers  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Interior, 
War,  Finance,  Justice,  Education,  Communication, 
Labour,  and  the  Chief  of  Staff.  The  personnel  of  the 
Ministry  was  most  significant.  Every  one  of  the  men 
elected  had  been  in  public  affairs  in  Korea  in  the  past. 
The  President  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the 
newly  created  Republic,  Dr.  Syngman  Rhee,  may  be 
taken  as  an  illustration. 

Like  Thomas  Masaryk  of  the  Czecho-Slovakian  Re- 
public, Dr.  Rhee  is  a scholar  as  well  as  a statesman. 


212 


THE  CASE  OP  KOREA 


He  took  an  active  part  in  the  reform  movement  of 
1894,  suffering  long  imprisonment  as  the  result. 
After  release,  he  came  to  America,  graduated  from 
Harvard,  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philos- 
ophy at  Princeton  under  Woodrow  Wilson.  In  1910 
John  R.  Mott  sent  him  out  to  Korea  to  represent  the 
International  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  but  he  had  to  abandon  his 
work  on  account  of  Japanese  obstruction.  He  went  to 
Hawaii,  started  a magazine.  The  Korean  Pacific  Maga- 
zine, and  conducted  a Korean  school.  When  the  dele- 
gates from  the  thirteen  provinces  met  in  Seoul,  in 
April,  1919,  Dr.  Rhee  was  unanimously  elected  as  the 
President  of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the  Re- 
public of  Korea.  He  has  many  books  to  his  credit, 
and  his  name  is  a household  word  among  Koreans 
everywhere. 

Many  spokesmen  for  Japan  take  delight  in  ridicul- 
ing the  Provisional  Republic  of  Korea  as  being  a 
“ paper  Republic  ” on  the  ground  that  the  seat,  and 
most  of  the  officials,  of  the  Government  are  outside  of 
Korea,  and  none  of  the  Powers  have,  as  yet,  recog- 
nized the  newly  organized  Government.  They  seem 
to  forget  that  the  Continental  Congress  was  not  recog- 
nized in  1776  by  any  of  the  Powers,  and  that  the  Bel- 
gian Government  was  not  in  Belgium  during  the 
World  War.  When  the  United  States  Government 
recognized  the  belligerency  of  Czecho-Slovakia,  Sep- 
tember 3,  1918,  not  a single  member  of  the  National 
Council  of  Czecho-Slovakia  was  in  his  own  country. 
Mr.  IMasaryk  was  in  Washington,  Mr.  Stefanik  was  in 
Vladivostok,  Mr.  Benes  was  in  Paris,  other  members 


Dr.  SYN'GMAN  RHEE 

In  April.  10 IP.  delegates  from  the  thirteen  provinces  met  in  Seoul  and 
unanimously  elected  him  President  of  the  Republic  of  Korea. 


• 


MOVEMENT  TO  EESTOEE  INDEPENDENCE  213 


were  in  London  or  Rome,  and  the  National  Council 
did  not  have  the  physical  possession  of  a single  foot  of 
territory  in  the  country  itself.  The  people,  however, 
had  organized  and  had  elected  the  members  of  this 
National  Council  to  act  as  their  Provisional  Govern- 
ment. The  United  States,  being  convinced  of  this 
fact,  recognized  the  status  of  the  Czecho-Slovakian 
Government. 

To  the  Korean  people,  this  new  Government  of 
theirs  is  de  facto  and  de  jure.  They  are  willing  to 
fight  for  it  and  to  die  for  it.  As  a Korean  clergyman 
expressed  it,  “We  will  do  our  duty  and  leave  the  rest 
to  God.”  No  sacrifice  is  too  great  or  hardship  too 
severe  for  them  to  endure  in  their  fight  for  liberty. 
When  all  the  people  of  a nation  believe  in  the  ideal  of 
liberty,  it  is  not  an  easy  task  to  suppress,  even  for  those 
who  are  more  experienced  and  less  near-sighted  than 
the  Japanese.  Wholesale  massacres  and  burning  of 
towns  described  in  the  following  chapters  only  illus- 
trate the  incompetency  of  Japan  to  handle  the  situa- 
tion. If  there  ever  were  a nation  that  was  incapable 
of  ruling  others,  it  is  Japan.  Her  record  in  Korea  is 
incontestable  testimony  that  she  possesses  none  of  the 
qualities  of  a ruling  nation.  Bewildered  at  the  cour- 
age, ability  and  patriotism  of  the  Koreans,  and  utterly 
incompetent  to  face  the  situation  created  largely 
through  her  own  greed  and  treachery,  Japan  sits  upon 
the  safety  valve  while  the  boilers  beneath  her  crack 
from  expansive  pressure. 


XIII 


JAPAN  AMUCK 

The  Independence  Demonstration,  which  be- 
gan on  March  1,  1919,  was  a passive  one  in 
the  literal  sense  of  the  word.  It  was  “ a 
great  orderly  demonstration  by  the  people  simulta- 
neously all  over  the  Empire,  of  their  desire  for  free- 
dom. There  were  no  attacks  on  Japanese  property  or 
persons — simply  a cessation  of  labour,  and  a gathering 
of  the  people  for  orderly  demonstration  under  the 
catchword,  Mansci.  The  Koreans,  en  masse,  did  not 
even  try  to  retaliate  when  the  Japanese  attacked  them. 
They  used  neither  clubs  nor  weapons  of  any  sort. 
And  it  was  against  people  like  these — against  pathetic 
dignity  and  high-mindedness  in  revolt  that  the  Japa- 
nese retaliated  with  atrocities  that  rival  those  in  Bel- 
gium and  Armenia.”  ’ 

The  Independence  News,  the  official  organ  of  the 
Independence  Movement,  continually  instructed  the 
people  not  to  use  violence  under  any  circumstances — 
not  even  in  self-defense.  This  newspaper,  which  ap- 
peared every  day  during  March,  April,  May,  and  still 
appears  periodically,  was  a Korean  counterpart  of  La 
Libre  Belgique  in  the  romantic  and  daring  accompani- 

^ Asia,  September,  1919,  p.  925. 

214 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


216 


ments  of  its  production.  The  ingenuity  of  the  Korean 
in  editing  this  mimeographed  sheet  would  furnish 
abundant  material  for  a highly  interesting  detective 
story.  The  staff  was  organized  in  such  a way  that 
the  minute  one  member  was  arrested  or  disabled  phys- 
ically by  the  soldiers,  another  member  would  step  into 
his  place.  It  was  published  in  caves,  in  fishermen’s 
junks,  in  an  artificially  made  grave  at  the  churchyard. 
Its  distribution  was  so  arranged  that  it  was  scattered 
all  over  the  country,  not  only  among  the  Koreans,  but 
also  among  the  Westerners  and  the  Japanese;  the  Gov- 
ernor-General found  two  copies  on  his  desk  every 
morning.  The  Japanese  were  completely  baffled. 

Police  sei'geants  in  the  corner  sentry  boxes  found 
copies  on  their  benches,  prison  guards  found  them  dis- 
tributed in  the  cells.  Hundreds  have  been  caught  in 
distributing  the  paper  and  far  more  arrested  on  suspicion 
in  connection  with  its  publication,  but  if  among  these 
have  been  the  editors,  that  has  not  prevented  its  con- 
tinued appearances.  No  sooner  is  one  group  satisfactorily 
found  guilty  of  responsibility  for  it  than  it  again  appears 
on  the  table  of  the  procurator  who  conducted  the  prosecu- 
tion.’ 

The  outwitting  of  the  Japanese  soldiers  and  police 
by  the  Koreans  only  aggravated  them  to  further  atroc- 
ities. The  first  plan  of  the  Japanese  was  to  attack 
every  gathering  of  people  and  disperse  it,  and  to  arrest 
every  person  who  took  part  in  the  demonstrations  or 
was  supposed  to  have  a hand  in  them.  But  it  was  not 

* “ Korea’s  Rebellion,  the  Part  Played  by  Christians,”  Scribner's 
Magazine,  May,  1920,  pp.  513-530. 


216 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


very  long  before  all  the  jails  in  the  country  were  full, 
police  stations  were  crowded,  and  every  available  place 
in  which  to  huddle  the  arrested  was  occupied.  Sol- 
diers, police  and  gendarmes  were  instructed  to  fire  into 
crowds  of  demonstrators  and  to  use  their  swords 
freely.  Whenever  there  was  a crowd  gathered,  the 
soldiers  would  charge  them  with  fixed  bayonets,  cut- 
ting and  jabbing  the  unarmed  and  defenseless  men, 
women  and  children,  who  only  waved  their  flags  and 
cried  Maiisei. 

The  first  line  was  cut  down  and  ridden  down  by 
mounted  men,  the  second  came  on  shouting,  Mansei. 
Every  man  and  woman  in  that  line  knew  what  was  before 
him,  every  man  and  woman  had  seen  the  penalty  paid; 
it  meant  brutal  beatings,  arrest,  torture  and  even  death. 
They  did  not  quiver.  When  one  procession  was  broken 
up,  another  formed  and  marched  straight  at  the  waiting 
troops.  Only  cheering,  waving  their  flags  and  cheering. 
We  have  all  heard,  we  Westerners,  that  in  the  Eastern 
peoples  there  is  no  physical  courage.  Yet  I can  think  of 
no  finer  courage,  even  heroism,  than  that  of  these  people 
who,  without  resisting,  without  means  of  resistance, 
knowing  the  horrible  fate  that  was  before  them,  went  on 
to  it  without  flinching,  without  fear  or  regret.* 

There  were  not  enough  soldiers  and  gendarmes  and 
police  to  disperse  the  demonstrations  simultaneously 
going  on  all  over  Korea.  Japanese  civilians  were  given 
carte  blanche  to  assist  their  officers  in  the  reign  of 
terror.  Firemen  were  sent  out  with  poles  with  the 
big  firemen’s  hooks  at  the  end.  A single  pull  with  one 
'Nathaniel  Peffer,  The  Truth  About  Korea,  p.  23. 


Japanese  Soldiers  Guarding  the  Streets  of  Seoul  to  Shoot  Down  Any  One 
Who  Dare  Cry  “Long  Live  Korea." 


NOT  A OARDEX  WALL  BUT  KOREAN  SHOPS  WITH  SHUTTERS  UP 
Dunnu  the  Independence  Demonstrations  the  Korean  Merchants  went  on 
a Shopkeepers  Strike  to  Show  Their  Sympathy  with  the  National  Movement 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


217 


of  these  hooks  meant  death  or  horrible  mutilation  for 
any  person  it  happened  to  strike. 

In  describing  the  deeds  of  these  deputized  firemen, 
an  American  witness  writes: 

Two  girls  were  dragged  by  the  hair  from  a house  near 
the  mission  hospital,  tied  to  a telegraph  post  by  their 
hair,  horribly  beaten  by  deputized  firemen  and  then  led 
off  to  jail.  While  the  crowd  were  parading  the  streets 
the  police  and  soldiers  ran  their  weapons  deliberately  into 
unresisting  bystanders  because  they  happened  to  be  in 
their  way.  In  front  of  the  prefect’s  office  one  defenseless 
Korean  was  run  down  and  killed  by  two  firemen  armed 
with  pikes.  The  coi*pse  was  dragged  along  the  ground 
and  away  by  the  slayers.  Old  men,  women  and  children 
have  been  indiscriminately  abused,  beaten,  cut  down  with 
swords,  struck  by  firemen  armed  with  pikes,  pierced  by 
bayonets,  and  never  a man  has  resisted  the  military.  The 
passive  revolt  has  been  true  to  its  name  here.  Because 
we  foreigners  have  seen  all,  we  are  not  only  persona  non 
grata  to  the  Japanese,  but  in  real  danger  of  our  lives. 
It  is  reported  that  hired  thugs  are  wandering  about  the 
city  at  night  to  waylay  whom  they  may.  It  is  becoming 
increasingly  questionable  whether  we  foreigners  can  re- 
main here  during  the  continuance  of  the  trouble.* 

Not  only  the  soldiers,  the  police,  the  gendarmes  and 
the  deputized  firemen,  but  Japanese  civilians  did  their 
full  share  of  the  work  of  human  butchery.  Whenever 
there  were  any  signs  of  demonstration,  the  Japanese 
civilians,  without  being  requested,  rushed  out  dropping 
whatever  they  were  doing  to  lend  aid  to  their  soldiers 
and  police.  They  seemed  to  take  delight  in  doing  it. 
An  English  resident  in  Seoul  wrote  at  the  time:  “ Ad- 
‘ Philadelphia  Evening  Ledger,  April  i6,  1919. 


218 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


ditional  provocation  is  furnished  both  in  Seoul  and 
elsewhere  by  Japanese  civilians  who  arm  themselves 
with  clubs  and  iron  hooks  and  charge  down  upon  the 
demonstrators.  Their  work  is  voluntary,  and  it  looks 
as  though  a race  war  threatens.”  ‘ 

This  is  the  part  which  is  hard  for  the  Koreans  to 
forgive  the  Japanese,  no  matter  what  atonement  Japan 
may  make.  When  there  is  a possibility  of  mob  vio- 
lence in  a community,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  good  citi- 
zen to  assist  the  minions  of  law  to  preserve  law  and 
order.  But  in  this  case  there  was  no  occasion  for 
Japanese  civilians  to  volunteer  their  services  in  com- 
mitting unspeakable  outrages.  Photographs  of  the 
victims  of  Japanese  brutality,  taken  by  American  phy- 
sicians at  the  Severance  Hospital,  are  so  gruesome  and 
horrible  that  they  do  not  bear  publication.  The  das- 
tardly deeds  of  Japanese  in  suppressing  the  demon- 
strations are  set  forth  in  the  findings  of  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  The 
Korean  Situation,  Authentic  Accounts  of  Recent 
Events  by  Eye  Witnesses.  I take  the  following  Ex- 
hibit from  the  report  as  an  illustration. 

Death  of  a Korean  Young  Man  by  Name  of 
Koo  Nak  Soh 

On  March  27,  at  about  9 p.  m.,  a large  body  of  young 
men  gathered  at  Andong,  Seoul,  and  shouted  Mansei. 
The  shouting  had  continued  for  a few  minutes  when  a 
large  force  of  police,  gendarmes  and  soldiers  arrived  and 
dispersed  them.  The  above-named  young  man,  like  the 
others,  was  peacefully  going  home  and  alone,  was  walking 
’ Quoted  in  the  Literary  Digest,  May  31,  1919. 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


219 


along  a small  street  when  suddenly  some  one  pushed  him 
violently  in  the  back,  causing  him  to  stumble  and  fall.  His 
assailant  was  a policeman,  who  had  seen  him  in  the 
crowd  and  followed  him  to  the  place  where  he  thought 
fit  to  make  the  attack.  After  throwing  him  to  the  ground 
the  policeman  drew  his  sword  and  literally  hacked  at  him 
“ like  a woodsman  would  attack  a rough  old  oak.”  His 
skull  was  cut  right  through  so  that  the  brain  was  visible. 
This  had  been  accomplished  by  at  least  three  sword  cuts 
falling  in  or  near  the  same  place.  His  hands  were  ter- 
ribly cut ; his  left  wrist  was  also  cut  through  to  the  bone. 
Those  who  saw  the  corpse  stated  that  there  were  twenty 
sword  cuts,  but  the  photograph  reveals  only  ten. 

After  this  brutal  attack  on  this  unarmed  and  defense- 
less young  man  the  officer  ran  away,  leaving  him  in  his 
terrible  agony  to  expire  in  a few  minutes.  Some  Ko- 
reans, happening  to  pass  by,  carried  him  to  the  nearest 
native  hospital  (Kuck  Chai  Hospital),  but  little  could  be 
done,  so  they  placed  him  on  a stretcher  and  started  out 
for  the  Severance  Union  Medical  College,  still  thinking 
that  his  life  might  be  saved.  While  hurrying  to  the  Sev- 
erance Hospital  they  were  stopped  by  a policeman  from 
the  Honmachi  police  station,  who  spoke  to  them  in  a 
threatening  way  and  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  the  case 
being  taken  to  a foreign  hospital.  They  remonstrated, 
saying  that  the  case  was  so  serious  that  a delay  in  taking 
the  man  to  the  Japanese  hospital,  which  was  some  dis- 
tance away,  would  surely  result  fatally.  The  Japanese  are 
naturally  anxious  that  such  cases  should  not  be  seen  by 
foreigners.  On  arriving  at  the  Severance  Hospital,  medi- 
cal examination  revealed  the  fact  that  the  man  was  al- 
ready dead.  It  is  impossible  to  say  just  when  he  died. 
His  dead  body  presented  the  most  pitiful  appearance. 
Numbers  of  sword  cuts  had  mutilated  his  head  and  hands. 
His  clothing  was  saturated  with  blood — indeed,  a sight 
never  to  be  forgotten. 


220 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


During  the  following  day  his  little  cousin,  a mission- 
school  girl,  stood  watch  over  his  body  in  the  morgue; 
nothing  would  persuade  her  to  leave  the  remains  of  the 
one  she  loved.  Another  life  has  been , sacrificed  for  the 
cause  of  Korean  liberty.  “ We  hope  that  the  great  God 
who  sees  our  pitiful  state  will  come  ere  long  and  judge 
in  righteousness  and  justice.” 

(Note. — The  deaths  so  far  are  estimated  at  about 
1,000,  while  those  in  prison  number  about  6,000.  The 
people  have  not  one  rifle  or  sword  among  them.  They 
lift  up  their  empty  hands  and  call  upon  God  and  all  those 
who  knowing  Him  love  righteousness  and  justice.) 

The  Rev.  Edward  W.’Thwing,  formerly  of  Boston, 
the  Secretary  of  the  International  Reform  Bureau  at 
Peking,  China,  was  in  Pyeng  Yang,  Korea,  during 
March.  After  his  return  to  Peking,  he  issued  a signed 
statement  which  follows: 

Peking,  China,  April  1919. 

In  a remarkable  manner,  the  Korean  Independence 
Movement  has  manifested  skill,  courage  and  organization 
that  has  been  a great  surprise  to  many.  It  has  shown, 
more  than  ever  before,  how  unreasonable,  without  justice, 
cruel  and  brutal  the  military  rule  of  Japan  is  in  this  land. 
I could  hardly  believe  these  things  if  I had  not  seen  them 
with  my  own  eyes. 

The  police  and  soldiers  have  arrested  old  men  and 
little  children  and  cruelly  beaten  them.  Little  girls  of 
only  ten  years  of  age,  women  and  schoolgirls  have  been 
shamefully  treated  and  subjected  to  physical  punishment 
and  torture  for  no  other  crime  than  shouting  with  peace- 
ful enthusiasm  for  their  own  country  and  crying  out  for 
the  independence  which  Japan  had  guaranteed  by  solemn 
treaties. 

These  things  have  been  witnessed  not  by  one  or  two, 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


221 


but  by  scores  of  missionaries  and  others  in  many  parts  of 
Korea  during  March.  If  the  world  could  only  know 
these  things  it  would  certainly  heed  this  cry  of  distress 
from  an  oppressed  people.  But  the  Japanese  are  doing 
all  they  can  to  keep  the  world  from  knowing  the  truth. 
A report  has  just  come  that  in  one  city,  from  which 
letters  have  been  sent,  they  are  making  it  very  hard  for 
the  missionaries,  even  hinting  at  deportation,  unless  they 
stop  telling  out  the  truth. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  things  that  I have 
actually  seen  with  my  own  eyes. 

Small  schoolboys  knocked  down  and  cruelly  beaten  by 
Japanese  soldiers.  This  was  not  a question  of  arresting 
them,  but  savage,  unjustifiable  barbarism. 

Soldiers  stop  and  deliberately  fire  into  a crowd  com- 
posed only  of  girls  and  women,  who  were  simply  shouting 
Mansei. 

A small  boy  of  ten  years  shot  through  the  back. 

An  unresisting  old  man  of  sixty-five  years,  pounded, 
kicked  and  beaten  by  several  Japanese  soldiers  until  he 
could  not  walk. 

A crowd  of  about  twenty  schoolgirls,  who  were  quietly 
walking  along  the  public  road,  not  even  shouting,  chased 
by  soldiers,  beaten  with  guns,  knocked  down,  and  so 
shamefully  treated  that  it  made  one’s  blood  boil. 

Japanese  firemen,  chasing  boys  and  girls,  with  long 
iron  hooks  trying  to  catch  them  with  them. 

A Korean  in  a hospital,  paralyzed,  with  his  head 
crushed  in  with  one  of  these  hooks. 

A man  dying,  shot  through  the  back. 

One  hundred  men  with  torn  and  bloody  clothes,  tied 
together  with  ropes,  taken  to  jail. 

Two  Koreans  so  injured  that  they  could  not  walk,  tied 
down  on  a springless  cart  and  brought  to  jail. 

Men  standing  by,  having  no  connection  with  the  demon- 
stration, and  yet  knocked  about,  and  attacked  by  soldiers, 


222 


THE  CASE  OF  KOKEA 


who  will  attack  any  one,  without  regard  to  what  they  are 
doing. 

An  American  missionary  roughly  arrested,  while  stand- 
ing in  his  own  yard,  and  looking  on,  but  doing  nothing 
else. 

Women  knocked  down  with  guns,  and  kicked  into  the 
ditch. 

These  and  many  other  things  I have  seen  with  my 
own  eyes.  Other  foreigners  have  seen  the  same  and 
worse.  One  can  little  imagine  the  reign  of  terror  in  all 
parts  of  this  land,  at  the  very  time  when  the  Japanese 
peace  delegates  are  talking  of  “ humanity  and  justice  and 
equality  of  races.”  They  don’t  know  the  meaning  of 
these  words.  And  the  punishments  and  tortures  at  the 
police  stations  and  jails  make  a still  more  awful  story. 
I have  seen  men  who  were  beaten  on  wooden  crosses  by 
the  Japanese. 

And  why  is  all  this  cruel  punishment  given?  Not  for 
rioting,  or  for  resisting  arrest.  I have  not  seen  one  case 
of  this;  not  for  carrying  dangerous  weapons;  they  have 
none;  but  just  for  shouting  out  the  desire  of  their  hearts 
for  the  independence  of  their  country.* 

These  fiendish  methods  of  suppression  did  not 
weaken  the  Independence  Movement.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  movement  was  kept  up  with  increasing 
strength.  The  persecution,  in  fact,  did  not  keep  pace 
with  the  rising  spirit  of  liberty.  In  April  the  Gov- 
ernor-General passed  an  ex  post  facto  law  to  punish 
those  leaders  arrested  in  March.  They  were  not  dealt 
with  so  summarily,  as  in  the  case  of  ordinary  demon- 
strators, because  of  their  wide  acquaintance  among 
foreign  communities  in  Korea.  Meanwhile,  the  Japa- 

* Associated  Press  Correspondence  by  mail  (Philadelphia 
Inquirer,  May  25,  1919). 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


223 


nese  Government  sent  over  6,000  soldiers  and  400 
gendarmes  to  carry  on  systematic  suppression  of  the 
Independence  Movement. 

The  Koreans  still  maintained  their  passive  resist- 
ance. “ Do  not  hit  the  Japanese,  not  even  in  retalia- 
tion,” The  Independence  News  advised  the  people.  I 
have  talked  with  scores  of  American  and  British  wit- 
nesses about  Japanese  atrocities  in  Korea,  and  all  Avere 
unanimous  in  stating  that  the  Koreans  were  absolutely 
non-resisting.  There  was  one  exception ; that  was  the 
following  incident  related  to  me  by  an  American  mis- 
sionary. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  the  demonstration,  a Korean 
student  in  Union  Christian  College,  in  Seoul,  saw  a 
Japanese  civilian  dragging  a Korean  girl  by  the  hair 
through  the  street  and  beating  her.  Evidently,  she 
was  from  a Christian  family  and  was  out  on  the  street 
shouting,  Mansei.  Despite  the  strict  instructions  of 
the  leaders — that  the  Koreans  should  refrain  from  vio- 
lence of  any  kind — the  sight  of  this  outrage  was  more 
than  the  young  man  could  stand.  It  was  bad  enough 
for  the  soldiers  and  gendarmes  to  commit  outrages, 
but  when  a civilian  was  beating  an  innocent  girl,  the 
instructions  of  the  leaders  could  be  ignored.  The  Ko- 
rean student  seized  the  Japanese,  trampled  on  him,  and 
gave  him  a sound  thrashing.  By  this  time  gendarmes 
came  along,  cut  off  both  arms  of  this  young  man  for 
beating  the  Japanese  and  dragged  him  off  to  prison. 
This  American  missionary  saw  the  father  of  the  young 
man  the  next  day  and  consoled  him,  whereupon  the 
aged  man  replied  with  tears,  “ I have  no  regrets  for  his 


224 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


losing  both  arms — not  even  if  he  does  lose  his  life  for 
such  a noble  and  manly  act.” 

No  Korean  escaped  the  brunt  of  Japanese  atrocity. 
From  the  learned  scholar  to  the  ignorant  coolie,  from 
the  city  merchant  to  the  country  farmer,  from  school 
children  of  eight  and  nine  to  men  past  threescore  and 
ten,  the  bludgeon  of  the  Japanese  beat  upon  all  alike. 
But  the  most  abhorrent  feature  of  the  brutality  was  the 
treatment  of  women  and  schoolgirls.  The  world  will 
never  know  all  the  suffering  and  heroism  of  the  Ko- 
rean women  under  Japanese  domination.  What  has 
been  observed  by  foreigners  in  Korea  is  only  a small 
part  of  the  maltreatment  that  has  been  going  on  every- 
where in  the  peninsula.  Airs.  Robertson  Scott  of 
England,  who  was  in  Korea  while  the  Independence 
Demonstrations  were  going  on,  writes: 

They  have  need  of  all  their  marvellous  physical,  moral 
and  spiritual  courage  in  the  fight  they  have  begun.  No 
physical  humiliation  or  personal  indignity  has  been  spared 
the  Korean  girl  patriots  at  the  hands  of  a police  largely 
recruited  from  the  lowest  class  in  Japan.  A young  ^rl — 
and  fourteen  seems  the  age  of  courage — speaking  of  a 
group  of  fellow-students,  who  had  just  emerged  from 
several  days’  detention  in  the  Seoul  police  station,  said, 
“ They  did  not  look  like  persons.” 

The  best  spirit  of  modern  Korea  is  to  be  found  in  the 
beautiful  words  of  a Korean  peasant  woman  to  a tyran- 
nical Japanese  official.  “ I am  sorry  for  you  Japanese. 
You  do  not  know  how  you  must  suffer  before  you  come 
to  that  place  of  wide  and  glad  prosperity.”  . . . One 
of  the  head  Japanese  teachers  addressed  a large  class  of 
Korean  girls  at  the  time  of  the  uprising.  He  said : “ We 
have  trained  you  in  this  institution  for  several  years,  and 


JAPAI^  AMUCK 


226 


I hope  you  will  marry  Japanese  husbands.”  “We  all 
will,”  they  replied  laughing,  and  the  next  day  all  of  these 
girls  were  out  on  the  street  shouting,  ManseV 

William  R.  Giles,  the  Far  Eastern  correspondent  of 
the  Chicago  Daily  News,  visited  Korea  shortly  after 
the  uprising.  In  a signed  dispatch  to  his  paper,  Mr. 
Giles  described  the  “ horrible  conditions  that  made  the 
blood  boil.  I have  seen  and  photographed  those  who 
came  out  of  prison  after  they  had  received  the  regula- 
tion ninety  blows.  Among  those  whom  I visited  a few 
hours  after  their  release  were  men  of  the  highest  edu- 
cation and  of  good  families.  Old  men  from  seventy 
to  eighty  years  of  age  were  flogged  until  they  were  a 
mass  of  bleeding  sores,  from  which  many  of  them 
never  recovered.  Unless  properly  attended  by  a phy- 
sician, gangrene  sets  in,  and  then  the  case  becomes 
hopeless.  Others  are  so  nerve-wracked  they  will  never 
again  regain  their  normal  strength.  Every  attempt  is 
made  to  prevent  the  marks  showing  when  the  men  are 
released,  and  at  the  same  time  everything  that  science 
can  bring  to  bear  to  cause  more  suffering,  is  utilized.” 

Horrible  as  is  the  punishment  inflicted  upon  men, 
yet  more  horrible  and  revolting  to  the  extreme  is  the 
treatment  of  women,  Mr.  Giles  found.  He  continues: 

In  spite  of  all  the  brutality  and  suffering  they  have  to 
put  up  with,  they  are  still  strong  in  the  belief  that  an  end 
will  come  to  their  suffering;  that  they  will  gain  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  world  and  eventually  a better  form  of  Gov- 
ernment. I could  tell  many  stories  of  how  they  are 

’ “ Warring  Mentalities  in  the  Far  East,”  Asia,  August,  1920, 
PP-  693-701. 


226 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


treated  in  the  prisons,  but  the  following  instance  of  what 
happened  to  an  innocent  eighteen-year-old  girl,  from 
whom  I obtained  the  story  direct,  will  be  sufiBcient  to 
give  the  reader  an  idea  of  how  women  are  treated  by  the 
Japanese  military  authorities. 

The  girl  told  me  that  she  arrived  in  Pyeng  Yang  at  the 
end  of  April,  having  been  telegraphed  for  by  her  father 
to  come  home.  As  soon  as  the  train  stopped  the  Japa- 
nese police  seized  her  and  took  her  to  the  police  office. 
There  they  told  her  she  had  been  shouting  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  Korea,  that  she  had  led  an  evil  life — a 
favourite  accusation  of  the  Japanese  police — and  had  said 
things  against  Japanese  rule.  The  girl  said  she  was  inno- 
cent of  all  wrong.  The  police  then  beat  her  on  the  head. 
This  being  unsuccessful  they  placed  pieces  of  wood  be- 
tween her  fingers,  held  the  latter  tight  and  began  to  twist 
the  sticks  until  she  fainted.  When  she  came  to  they  or- 
dered her  to  make  a confession,  but  having  nothing  to 
confess,  she  was  unable  to  comply  with  their  demand. 
They  then  stripped  her  naked  and  beat  her  very  severely. 
Then  they  placed  a heavy  weight  on  her  head  and  made 
her  stand  naked  for  three  hours.  She  again  fainted  and 
the  treatment  caused  her  to  vomit  blood.  She  had  to 
undergo  the  same  treatment  seven  times  in  fourteen  days. 
Eventually,  she  became  so  ill  that  the  police  were  com- 
pelled to  call  in  the  Japanese  doctor,  who  gave  her  some 
medicine.  The  doctor  told  the  police  officials  that  the 
girl  was  very  ill,  and  that  she  had  to  be  sent  either  home 
or  to  a hospital.  The  police  then  released  her.  When  I 
saw  the  girl  she  was  absolutely  broken  in  health.’ 

All  during  the  period  of  the  reign  of  terror,  the 
Japanese  newspapers  in  Korea  cooperated  with  the  Im- 
perial Government  in  conducting  editorial  atrocities 
against  the  Koreans.  Not  only  did  they  justify  the 
* Chicago  Daily  News,  October  13,  1919. 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


227 


action  of  their  Government  and  nationals  in  their 
method  of  suppressing  the  passive  revolution,  but  they 
continually  vilified  the  Korean  people.  Not  even  those 
dailies  which  were  considered  very  liberal  in  their 
views  ever  advanced  a single  disapproval  of  the  atroci- 
ties. On  the  contrary,  they  were  unanimous  in  urging 
the  authorities  to  adopt  harsher  measures  and  advising 
their  nationals  to  cooperate  with  the  officials  against 
the  Koreans.  A British  resident  of  Seoul,  in  a com- 
munication published  in  The  Japan  Advertiser,  sums 
up  his  observations  as  follows; 

1.  That  some  remedy  other  than  repression  by  brute 
force  must  be  resorted  to,  for  Gierman  methods  are  out 
of  date. 

2.  That  the  studious  misrepresentation  of  the  Koreans 
as  a degraded  and  decadent  people  must  cease.  Given 
equal  facilities  they  are  able  to  produce  an  administrative 
class  equal  to  that  among  the  Japanese. 

3.  That  the  widespread  conviction  that  American  in- 
fluence is  at  the  back  of  this  Korean  agitation  must  be 
counteracted,  for  there  is  no  ground  for  it.  Have  you 
heard  that  already  three  British  subjects  have  been 
wrongfully  imprisoned  and  one  of  them  was  severely  be- 
laboured  by  a Japanese  mob  of  civilians  and  gendarmes 
under  the  impression  he  was  an  American?  And  this 
kind  of  thing  is  bound  to  increase  while  the  local  Japa- 
nese press  continue  to  insert  abusive  articles  regarding 
foreigners. 

The  foreign  community  in  Korea  maintain  a neutral 
position,  but  they  observe  the  facts,  and  one  cannot  but 
protest  against  the  cruelties  practised  towards  defenseless 
people  in  this  unhappy  peninsula.’ 

’Quoted  in  The  Literary  Digest,  May  31,  1919. 


228 


THE  CABE  OF  KOEEA 


It  is  impossible  to  give  an  exhaustive  description  of 
the  various  methods  employed  by  the  Japanese  in  their 
attempt  to  crush  the  Korean  Independence  Movement. 
From  the  evidence  cited  in  this  chapter  the  reader  must 
infer  the  rest.  The  following  extracts,  taken  from  a 
lengthy  article  published  in  the  Toronto  Globe,  To- 
ronto, Canada,  July  12,  1919,  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Arm- 
strong, the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church, 
will  conclude  this  chapter.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong 
was  in  Korea  in  March,  1919,  and  saw  some  of  the 
conditions.  He  reports  that  the  Japanese  were  not 
satisfied  with  persecuting  the  Korean  in  Korea  alone, 
so  they  extended  their  fiendish  work  to  Korean  settle- 
ments in  far-off  Manchuria. 

♦ ♦ . ♦ ♦ * * ♦ 

Some  deeds  here  are  too  terrible  to  write  about.  At 
one  place  fifty-four  unarmed  Koreans  were  killed  by  the 
Japanese  and  piled  in  a heap  to  be  buried  next  morning. 
Through  the  night  some  of  the  friends  stole  quietly  near 
to  see  if  any  were  alive,  and  found  five  living  under  the 
heap  of  dead;  two  of  these  died  later  and  three  lived. 
At  another  place  seventy-five  miles  from  here  thirty  were 
killed. 

♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

A lady  missionary  writes : 

“ I saw  on  March  4 the  Koreans  being  clubbed  by  the 
Japanese  Fire  Brigade  with  clubs  of  hardwood,  iron  bars, 
long  lance  poles  with  steel  hooks  on  the  end.  These  low- 
down  men  were  protected  by  policemen  and  soldiers.  All 
the  Koreans  had  done  was  for  some  of  them  to  cheer 
Mansei;  then  these  firemen  came  out  and  charged  when- 
ever they  saw  a crowd  of  Koreans.  Men,  women  or 


JAPAN  AMUCK 


229 


children — it  made  no  difference.  They  began  clubbing 
them  over  the  heads  until  the  skulls  were  split,  necks  and 
shoulders  torn,  blood  streaming,  and  were  dragged  to 
prison  in  this  condition.  I never  was  in  such  a position 
in  my  life.  I walked  through  the  scene,  was  ordered  off 
by  the  gendarme  captain,  but  would  not  leave.  The 
sight  was  enough  to  make  the  poor  Koreans  try  in  some 
way  to  defend  themselves,  but  they  had  not  a weapon, 
neither  did  they  speak  an  angry  word;  they  kept  perfect 
control  of  themselves.  So  far  as  we  know  no  Koreans 
have  used  violence.  Whenever  this  is  stated,  know  that 
Koreans  have  first  been  murdered. 

“At  Sunk-dok  the  Koreans  were  fired  on  by  the  gen- 
darmes in  the  market  for  cheering  Mansei,  and  four 
killed.  At  Sing-hung  the  same  was  repeated  and  four 
killed  and  four  wounded.  A woman  passing  by  with  a 
water  jar  was  shot  through  the  neck  and  killed.  At  an- 
other place,  near  here,  two  were  killed  as  they  cheered. 
The  sight  of  blood  and  the  dead  enraged  the  Koreans,  and 
they  caught  and  bound  the  gendarme  in  charge.  He  got 
free  next  day  and  began  shooting  into  the  houses ; a num- 
ber were  killed  and  wounded.  To-day,  the  people  of  that 
whole  counti*yside  are  hunted  like  deer  and  sent  to  prison. 
What  I saw  this  week  was  nothing  to  the  sights  in  other 
places.  That  was  the  beginning,  and  it  has  continued. 
They  think  the  foreigners  egged  the  Koreans  on,  whereas 
the  Koreans,  in  their  deep  regard  for  us,  kept  us  in  igno- 
rance of  their  plans,  lest  we  perish.  All  the  leaders  (Ko- 
reans) of  all  churches  are  Imprisoned.  We  meet  for 
regular  service  here,  but  half  our  folk  are  in  jail.” 

I shall  refer  to  just  one  other  region,  this  time  in  the 
far  north,  not  in  Korea  at  all,  but  in  China,  in  the  Kando 
district  of  Eastern  Manchuria,  where  Koreans  have  mi- 
grated by  tens  of  thousands.  Though  it  is  Chinese  terri- 
tory where  the  Japanese  have  no  right  to  be  exercising 


230 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


any  control,  yet  on  the  ground  that  the  Koreans  are  Japa- 
nese subjects,  soldiers  and  police  are  to-day  perpetrating 
the  same  frightful  Prussian-like  atrocities  as  in  Korea, 

A letter  written  May  24  states : 

" To-day,  we  have  authentic  news  of  the  burning  of 
fifteen  villages  and  the  shooting  of  Koreans  as  they  es- 
caped. There  is  reported  to  be  only  seven  survivors. 
Some  thirty  Christian  churches  have  already  been  burned, 
and  in  many  cases  the  members  of  the  congregations  have 
been  burned  in  the  buildings.  The  Korean  doctor  and 
Secretary  of  this  hospital  have  both  fled  for  their  lives, 
and  our  druggist  and  two  surgical  assistants  are  living  in 
the  hospital  to  avoid  being  beaten  to  a pulp.  I have 
photos  of  many  who  have  been  beaten  and  limbs  almost 
wrenched  out  of  their  sockets.  Also  photos  of  nineteen 
dead  bodies  in  our  basement  laundry,  victims  of  rifle  fire 
from  Chinese  who  were  forced  on  the  Koreans  by  Japa- 
nese police.  One  of  our  Christian  girls,  the  wife  of  the 
Christian  boys’  school  teacher,  was  arrested,  and  had  all 
her  clothes  torn  off  her  by  police  when  being  searched  and 
beaten.  This  was  because  she  did  not  know  where  her 
husband  was  hiding.” 

The  foregoing  are  but  samples  of  the  reign  of  terror 
now  prevailing  in  the  Korean  Peninsula.  Having  but 
recently  returned  from  Seoul,  the  capital  of  Korea,  I am 
in  a position  to  write  with  accuracy  of  the  nature  of  Japa- 
nese militarism.  It  is  absolutely  Prussian  to  the  core. 
Nay,  worse.  The  Japanese  military  system  is  modelled 
on  the  German  system,  and  when  there  is  added  to  it  the 
Oriental  fine  art  of  cruelty,  there  is  a resultant  combina- 
tion which  leads  many,  who  know  the  system  as  it  oper- 
ates in  Korea,  to  speak  of  it  as  surpassing  the  Huns  and 
the  Turks  in  inventive  barbarity  and  fiendish  ferocity. 


XIV 


MASSACRES 

WHAT  has  been  set  forth  in  the  preceding 
chapter  relates  largely  to  methods  pursued 
by  the  Japanese  in  cities  under  the  observa- 
tion of  foreigners.  In  country  districts,  where  there 
were  no  foreigners  to  chronicle  the  events,  villages 
were  wiped  out  and  wholesale  massacres  took  place. 
What  little  observations  made  by  foreigners  in  the  re- 
mote districts  were  a small  percentage  of  the  burnings 
and  massacres  which  took  place  all  over  Korea.  In  a 
signed  statement  forwarded  to  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  an  American  resi- 
dent describes  a massacre  in  northern  Korea,  at 
Maungsan,  as  follows: 

During  the  first  part  of  March,  after  the  people  at  this 
place  had  shouted  for  independence,  fifty-six  people  were 
asked  by  the  gendarmes  to  come  to  the  gendarme  station, 
which  they  did.  When  they  were  all  inside  the  gen- 
darmerie compound,  the  gates  were  closed,  gendarmes 
climbed  up  on  the  wall  and  shot  all  the  people  down. 
Then  they  went  in  among  them  and  bayoneted  all  who 
still  lived.  Of  the  fifty-six,  fifty-three  were  killed,  and 
three  were  able  later  to  crawl  out  of  the  heap  of  dead. 
Whether  they  lived  or  not  is  not  known.’ 

Mr.  William  R.  Giles,  whom  I quoted  in  the  preced- 
* The  Korean  Situation,  p.  33. 

231 


232 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


ing  chapter,  in  a statement  issued  at  Peking,  June  14, 
1919,  after  his  visit  to  Korea,  declares: 

In  a valley  in  southern  Korea,  about  fifty  miles  from 
Fusan,  the  Japanese  soldiery  closed  up  a horseshoe- 
shaped valley  surrounded  by  high  hills,  and  then  shot 
down  the  villagers  who  attempted  to  escape  by  climbing 
the  steep  slopes.  More  than  one  hundred  persons  were 
killed  in  this  affray.  . . . 

The  people  are  like  sheep  driven  to  a slaughter  house. 
Only  an  independent  investigation  can  make  the  world 
understand  Korea’s  true  position.  At  present  the  groan- 
ings  and  sufferings  of  twenty  million  people  are  appar- 
ently falling  on  deaf  ears. 

In  central  Korea,  near  Suwon  district,  about  thirty 
miles  from  Seoul,  fifteen  villages  were  completely 
wiped  out  of  existence  by  the  Japanese  soldiers  and 
gendarmes.  Many  foreigners  in  Seoul,  including 
British  and  American  Consular  officials,  visited  these 
devastated  districts  and  made  direct  representations  to 
the  Governor-General.  “ It  was  impossible  for  any 
evidence  to  be  brought  forward  to  disprove  their  state- 
ment,” wrote  an  American  in  Seoul  at  that  time. 
“ The  fact  that  so  many  foreigners  visited  the  scene  of 
this  useless  burning  and  murdering  has  forced  the 
Government  to  take  steps,  which  otherwise  it  would 
never  have  taken.  They  are  fully  aware  that  it  is  use- 
less to  deny,  as  they  did  in  other  cases,  that  these  acts 
of  inhuman  brutality  did  not  take  place ; the  evidence 
is  too  strong  against  them.”  The  Governor-General, 
after  receiving  reports  from  the  foreigners  who  visited 
the  burned  districts,  expressed  his  regret  and  added 
that  the  guilty  would  be  punished,  which  would  mean, 


A Japanese  Officer  "Explaining"  to  an  American  Missionary  Why  the  Christians  at 
Chai-amm-ni  Were  Massacred  and  the  Church  Was  Destroyed. 


RUINS  OF  CHANG-DURI 

Only  a Few  Earthen  Jars  Left  of  a Formerly  Prosperous  Christian  Hamlet  after  the 
Japanese  Soldiers  Had  Paid  It  a Visit. 


MASSACRES 


233 


as  one  Westerner  pointedly  commented,  “very  likely 
that  the  perpetrators  would  be  promoted  to  higher 
posts.” 

Whether  the  soldiers,  guilty  of  massacring  the  inno- 
cent people,  were  actually  promoted  to  higher  posts  or 
honourably  dismissed  from  the  Japanese  army  is  not 
known.  But  it  is  a proved  fact  that  they  were  never 
punished,  and  burnings  and  massacres  continued,  de- 
spite the  assurance  given  by  the  Governor-General  at 
that  time  that  such  outrages  would  never  occur  again. 
The  following  description  of  three  devastated  villages 
in  the  Suwon  district,  given  by  an  American  who  vis- 
ited them,  furnishes  a vivid  picture  of  what  has  been 
going  on  in  the  remote  parts  of  Korea  ever  since 
March  1,  1919. 


Chai-amm-ni 

On  Thursday,  April  17,  news  was  brought  to  Seoul  by 
a foreigner  that  a most  terrible  tragedy  had  occurred  in 
a small  village  some  fifty  li  (seventeen  miles)  south  of 
Suwon.  The  story  was  that  a number  of  Christians  had 
been  shut  up  in  a church,  then  fired  upon  by  the  soldiers, 
and  when  all  were  either  wounded  or  dead,  the  church 
was  set  on  fire  insuring  their  complete  destruction.  Such 
a story  seemed  almost  too  terrible  to  be  true,  and  being  of 
such  a serious  nature,  I determined  to  verify  it  by  a per- 
sonal visit.  On  the  following  day  I took  the  train  to 
Suwon,  and  from  there  cycled  to  within  a few  miles  of 
the  village;  knowing  the  strenuous  objections  that  would 
be  made  to  my  visit,  I made  a detour  of  several  miles 
over  a mountain  pass,  to  avoid  the  police  and  gendarme 
station  which  I knew  was  near  the  village. 

Before  entering  the  village  I questioned  many  people 
as  to  the  reported  burning  of  villages,  but  none  had  any 


234 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


accurate  information,  and  all  were  very  much  afraid  to 
speak  about  the  affair.  I finally  met  a boy  who  lived  in 
the  village  where  the  massacre  had  occurred,  but  he  abso- 
lutely refused  to  tell  me  anything.  He  protested  his 
ignorance — terrorism  was  bearing  its  fruit — the  people 
were  almost  paralyzed  with  fear. 

Making  a sharp  turn  in  the  road  I came  suddenly  into 
the  village,  and  to  my  surprise,  found  a number  of  Gov- 
ernment officials,  military  and  civil,  holding  an  investiga- 
tion. After  a conversation  with  some  of  these  officials, 
I was  allowed  to  further  look  over  the  village  and  take 
some  photographs.  From  Koreans  I could  get  practically 
no  information — they  appeared  to  be  dazed  and  stupefied, 
especially  the  women,  while  the  younger  men  pretended 
ignorance  of  any  details. 

The  appearance  of  the  village  was  one  of  absolute  deso- 
lation ; about  eight  houses  remained;  the  rest  (thirty-one) 
with  the  church  had  all  been  burned  to  the  ground.  All 
that  remained  were  the  stone  jars  of  pickles  and  other 
edibles;  these  stood  in  perfect  order  among  the  ruins. 
The  people  were  scattered  about  sitting  on  mats,  or 
straw ; some  had  already  improvised  little  shelters  on  the 
adjoining  hillside,  where  they  sat  in  silence  looking  down 
in  bewilderment  at  the  remains  of  their  happy  homes. 
They  seemed  bereft  of  speech ; they  were  probably  trying 
to  fathom  why  this  terrible  judgment  should  overtake 
them,  and  why  they  should  suddenly  become  widows  and 
their  children  orphans.  There  they  sat,  helpless  and  for- 
lorn, entirely  overcome  by  the  calamity  that  had  over- 
taken them. 

Before  long  the  Government  party  left  the  village,  and 
when  the  officers  were  well  out  of  sight,  the  tongues  of 
some  of  these  poor  frightened  people  loosened,  and  they 
revealed  to  me  the  story  of  the  outrage,  which  follows : 

On  Thursday,  April  15,  early  in  the  afternoon,  some 
soldiers  had  entered  the  village  and  had  given  orders  that 


MASSACEES 


236 


all  adult  male  Christians  and  members  of  the  Chuntokyo 
(Heavenly  Way  Society)  were  to  assemble  in  the  church 
as  a lecture  was  to  be  given.  In  all  some  twenty-nine 
men  went  to  the  church  as  ordered  and  sat  down  won- 
dering what  was  to  happen.  They  soon  found  out  the 
nature  of  the  plot  as  the  soldiers  immediately  surrounded 
the  church  and  fired  into  it  through  the  paper  windows. 
When  most  of  the  Koreans  had  been  either  killed  or 
wounded,  the  Japanese  soldiers  cold-bloodedly  set  fire  to 
the  thatch  and  wooden  building  which  readily  blazed. 
Some  tried  to  make  their  escape  by  rushing  out,  but  were 
immediately  bayoneted  or  shot.  Six  bodies  were  found 
outside  the  church,  having  tried  in  vain  to  escape. 
Two  women,  whose  husbands  had  been  ordered  to  the 
church,  being  alarmed  at  the  sound  of  firing,  went  to  see 
what  was  happening  to  their  husbands,  and  tried  to  get 
through  the  soldiers  to  the  church.  Both  were  brutally 
murdered.  One  was  a young  woman  of  nineteen — she 
was  bayoneted  to  death ; the  other  was  a woman  of  over 
forty — she  was  shot.  Both  were  Christians.  The  sol- 
diers then  set  the  village  on  fire  and  left. 

This  briefly  is  the  story  of  the  Massacre  of  Chai- 
amm-ni.  The  blame  for  this  cannot  be  placed  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  ignorant  and  boorish  Japanese  soldiers 
— officials  higher  up  were  cognizant  of  it,  if  not  directly 
a party  to  the  plot.  It  is  impossible  that  the  strict  dis- 
cipline which  prevails  in  the  Japanese  army  would  allow 
any  private  soldier  or  sergeant  taking  such  responsibility 
upon  his  shoulders. 


SU-CHON 

The  hamlet  of  Su-chon  is  beautifully  situated  in  a 
pretty  valley  some  four  or  five  miles  from  Chai-amm-ni, 
where  the  previously  reported  massacre  occurred.  But 
the  hand  of  the  despoiler  had  been  there,  and  his  finger 
prints,  black  and  brutal,  lay  heavily  upon  the  landscape. 


236 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


The  narrow  streets  were  lined  with  ash  heaps;  out  of 
forty-two  cottages  eight  alone  remained.  Little  attempt 
had  been  made  to  clear  away  the  debris  by  the  survivors, 
for  they  had  no  sense  of  security  of  life  and  property, 
and  they  apparently  feared  that  any  attempt  to  gather 
their  things  together  would  only  bring  fresh  disasters. 
Some  few  old  women  were  sitting  by  their  few  belong- 
ings— their  grief  had  overcome  them — and  they  were 
listless  and  indifferent.  I could  not  help  thinking  that, 
perhaps,  they  were  wishing  that  they  had  perished  in  the 
cruel  flames  that  had  swept  away  their  homes  and  robbed 
them  of  all  their  earthly  comfort.  There  were  some  little 
children  picking  herbs  in  the  fields — they  must  have 
something  to  eat,  and  all  their  stocks  of  rice  and  other 
food  had  been  destroyed.  The  police  and  soldiers  being 
absent,  the  people  flocked  around  me  and  seemed  anxious 
to  tell  me  of  their  misfortunes.  They  had  recovered  from 
the  first  shock,  but  were  in  constant  fear  lest  the  soldiers 
should  come  back  again  and  destroy  them  in  the  same 
brutal  way  that  they  had  destroyed  their  homes. 

The  following  is  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  the 
village : 

On  April  6,  before  daybreak,  while  all  were  sleeping, 
some  soldiers  had  entered  the  village  and  had  gone  from 
house  to  house  firing  the  thatched  roofs,  which  quickly 
caught  and  destroyed  the  houses.  The  people  rushed  out 
and  found  the  whole  village  blazing.  Some  tried  to  put 
out  the  fire,  but  were  soon  stopped  by  the  soldiers  who 
shot  at  them,  stabbed  them  with  their  bayonets  or  beat 
them.  They  were  compelled  to  stand  by  and  watch  their 
village  burn  to  ashes.  After  completing  this  nefarious 
work,  the  soldiers  left  them  to  their  fate.  I was  informed 
that  only  one  man  was  killed,  but  that  many  were  seri- 
ously injured.  I inquired  if  the  wind  had  spread  the  fire 
from  house  to  house.  The  reply  was  that  the  village 
was  on  fire  at  several  places  at  the  same  time,  and  that 


MASSACEES 


237 


the  soldiers  carried  matches  and  set  fire  to  the  thatch  of 
many  houses. 

I could  find  no  real  reason  for  this  useless  burning 
down  of  a village  and  making  a number  of  people  home- 
less. By  such  acts  Japan  is  hardening  the  hearts  of 
Koreans  against  her.  The  people  are  now  beginning  to 
feel  that  the  Japanese  intend  to  kill  them  whether  they 
are  innocent  of  doing  any  wrong  or  not,  and  are  arriving 
at  the  conclusion  that  if  they  have  to  die,  they  may  as 
well  do  so  striving  for  the  liberty  of  their  country.  They 
have  to  die  anyway,  so  what  is  the  good  of  their  trying 
to  live  within  the  bounds  of  the  law — such  as  it  is — 
when  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  obtain  justice  in  any 
shape  or  form. 

Wha-su-ri 

Wha-su-ri  must  have  been  a picturesque  village  before 
the  barbarous  troops  of  His  Majesty’s  Government  trans- 
formed it  into  an  ash-heap.  The  village  is  surrounded  by 
wooded  hills,  which  slope  towards  the  valley  of  fertile 
paddy  fields.  In  the  center  of  the  village  there  had  been 
a lovely  “ country  residence,”  which  had  a tiled  roof  and 
gateway.  Now  it  is  nothing  but  a huge  heap  of  broken 
tile,  dirt  and  brick.  Some  thought  that  the  owner  had 
fled,  others  said  that  he  had  been  imprisoned,  but  no  one 
really  knew  what  had  happened  to  the  “ squire.”  Out 
of  some  forty  odd  houses  eighteen  remained.  No  win,d 
had  spread  the  fire ; something  more  sure,  more  definite, 
more  cruel — the  hands  of  Japanese  troops  whose  hearts 
must  have  been  filled  with  murder.  Apart  from  the  defi- 
nite statement  of  the  people  to  this  effect,  there  was  the 
evidence  of  the  burnt  houses.  In  some  places  burnt  and 
unburnt  houses  alternated.  And  the  space  between  burnt 
and  unbumt  houses  frequently  was  some  distance.  As 
usual,  all  that  remained  were  the  earthenware  jars  used 
by  every  Korean  household  to  hold  pickles  and  water. 
Groups  of  such  pots  and  the  charred  ruins  of  the  wood- 


238 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


work,  the  ashes  and  debris,  were  all  that  remained  of 
the  erstwhile  happy  homes.  Nothing  had  been  saved 
from  the  flames — this  could  not  be  allowed  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Japan.  The  devastation  must  be  complete.  A 
blanket,  a sack  of  rice,  a bowl  or  spoon  could  not  be 
saved  on  pain  of  death,  so  one  feels  justified  in  char- 
acterizing the  refugees  as  absolutely  destitute.  Many 
of  the  poor  people,  whose  homes  had  been  burnt  down, 
had  been  welcomed  by  more  fortunate  neighbours,  to 
share  their  comforts  of  bed,  food  and  fire,  while  others 
were  living  under  little  straw  shelters. 

The  following  is  the  story  of  the  burning  of  the  vil- 
lage : 

On  April  ii,  some  time  before  daybreak,  the  vil- 
lagers were  suddenly  aroused  out  of  their  sleep  by  the 
sound  of  firing  and  the  smell  of  burning.  Running  into 
the  open  they  found  soldiers  and  police  firing  the  houses 
and  shooting  and  beating  the  people.  Leaving  every- 
thing, they  fled  for  their  lives,  old  and  young,  the  moth- 
ers with  their  babies  at  their  breasts,  and  the  fathers 
with  the  younger  children — all  of  them  fled  to  the  hills. 
But  before  they  could  make  good  their  escape,  many 
were  murdered,  shot  by  the  soldiers,  wounded  and  beaten, 
while  a number  were  arrested  and  taken  to  jail. 

It  is  not  a long  story,  but  one  is  made  to  pause  and 
think  and  to  visualize  the  scene.  Think  of  its  occurring 
to  your  own  home,  to  your  own  village ; picture  the  dark- 
ness, the  shooting,  the  beating,  the  screams  of  the  women 
and  children,  the  flames,  and  then  the  firing  of  the  sol- 
diers on  those  trying  to  escape.’ 

The  Rev.  Albertus  Pieters  of  Japan  in  an  article, 
“ The  Moral  Failure  of  Japan  in  Korea — Responsi- 
bility of  the  Japanese  Government  and  Nation,”  de- 

’ For  fuller  description  of  the  massacres  and  burnings  in 
Korea,  consult  The  Independence  Movement  in  Korea  (pam- 
phlet), published  by  the  Japan  Chronicle,  Kobe,  Japan,  1919. 


“The  Hamlet  of  Su-chon  is  Beautifully  Situated  in  a Pretty  Valley.  . . . But  the  Hand 
of  the  Despoiler  Had  Been  There.  . . . Out  of  Forty-two  Cottages  only  Eight  Remained.” 


“Wha-su-ri  Must  Have  Been  a Picturesque  Village  before  the  Barbarous  Troops  of 
His  Majesty’s  Government  Transformed  it  into  an  Ash  Heap.  . . . All  that  Remained 
were  the  earthenware 

HANDIWORK  OF  JAPANESE  SOLDIERS 


MASSACEES 


239 


nounced  the  massacres  as  “unprovoked,  deliberate, 
cold  blooded  murder,  for  which  no  sort  of  mitigation 
or  excuse  has  been  alleged.”  “ This  was  not  an  act  of 
war,”  said  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pieters ; “ no  state  of  war 
exists  in  Korea,  or  could  very  well  exist,  as  the  people 
have  been  completely  disarmed.  Neither  was  it  done 
by  a few  rowdy  or  intoxicated  soldiers,  who  had  got- 
ten out  of  hand,  but  by  an  organized  detachment  act- 
ing under  orders  of  their  regular  officers.  There  was 
no  resistance  or  riot  to  be  quelled  at  the  time.”  After 
stating  that  the  Governor-General  and  the  officials 
under  him  could  not  escape  the  responsibility  of  the 
crime,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pieters  continues: 

But  is  there  no  further  responsibility,  beyond  that  of 
the  Governor-General?  What  about  the  moral  respon- 
sibility of  the  Japanese  people  at  large?  With  the  deep- 
est concern  I have  been  waiting  for  the  past  month,  as, 
I am  sure,  have  many  other  friends  of  Japan,  to  see 
whether  there  might  be  moral  feeling  and  moral  courage 
enough  in  Japan  to  find  expression  in  a public  protest 
against  this  outrage.  I have  waited  in  vain.  The  Japa- 
nese residents  in  Korea  outnumber  the  foreigners  many 
times  over,  and  among  them  are  men  of  high  education 
and  prominent  position.  The  facts  were  as  accessible  to 
them  as  to  the  foreigners,  but  it  was  left  to  the  latter  to 
wait  upon  the  Governor-General  and  protest  again  at  this 
crime.  Why  was  there  no  delegation  of  prominent  Japa- 
nese doing  the  same  thing  ? 

Tokyo  is  the  nerve  center  of  the  Empire,  the  home  of 
meetings  and  demonstrations  of  every  kind.  I looked 
and  hoped  for  some  expression  of  indignation  from  the 
Japanese  people  originating  there,  but  nothing  happened ; 
no  indignation  meeting,  no  burning  protests  in  the  press, 


240 


THE  CASE  OF  KOKEA 


no  denunciation  by  any  political  party,  no  evidence  of  any 
kind  of  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  Koreans,  for  the 
maintenance  of  righteousness,  or  for  the  honour  of  the 
Empire.  I am  reminded  forcibly  of  what  a friend  said  to 
me  at  the  time  of  the  “ Conspiracy  Case  ” : “ The 

trouble  with  the  Japanese  is  that  they  lack  the  capacity 
for  moral  indignation  at  wrongs  done  to  others.”  It 
really  seems  so.  The  “ capacity  for  moral  indignation  ” 
is  lacking,  and  hence,  it  is  a matter  of  no  concern  to  the 
Japanese  that  unarmed  Koreans  are  shot,  bayoneted  and 
burned  by  men  in  the  uniform  of  the  Empire. 

Do  not  the  Japanese  people  see  that  such  things  in- 
evitably affect  the  world’s  judgment  of  them?  An  out- 
rage by  Japanese  troops,  if  an  isolated  case,  promptly 
disowned  and  properly  punished,  would  be  readily  for- 
given; but  not  this  apathy  that  gives  itself  no  trouble 
to  protest.  That  becomes  a measure  of  the  national  char- 
acter, an  index  of  the  fitness  of  the  race  to  associate  on 
equal  terms  with  civilized  mankind  and  to  be  entrusted 
with  the  destiny  of  undeveloped  peoples.  It  has  been 
said  that  in  the  long  run  every  people  has  the  Govern- 
ment it  deserves  to  have.  It  may  equally  be  said  that  in 
the  long  run  every  people  has  the  kind  of  army  it  de- 
serves to  have.  Those  of  us  who  loved  and  honoured 
the  Germany  of  history  strove  for  a long  time  to  make 
a distinction  between  the  German  people  and  the  German 
military  machine,  but  the  attempt  broke  down  in  the  face 
of  cumulative  evidence  that  the  nation  approved  the  do- 
ings of  the  army.  The  German  army  was  what  it  was 
and  did  what  it  did  because  the  German  people  are  what 
they  are  and  love  to  have  it  so.  Not  in  one  generation 
or  in  two  will  the  world  be  able  to  look  upon  the  German 
people  with  the  old  respect.  The  same  road  is  open  to 
the  Japanese,  and  there  is  but  too  much  reason  to  fear 
they  are  walking  in  it.* 

‘ The  Shanghai  Gazette,  June  5,  1919. 


XV 


“ SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 

WHEN  stories  of  torture  and  cruelty  to  prison- 
ers became  current  among  the  missionary 
community,  the  Seoul  Press  ran  a couple  of 
editorial  articles  pointing  out  that  the  Koreans  were 
” atrocious  liars,”  and  that  the  stories  of  cruelties  had 
been  investigated  and  that  the  prison  authorities  assured 
them  that  no  tortures  were  taking  place.  When  a mis-  . 
sionary  showed  this  article  to  a Japanese,  he  naively  re- 
plied that  it  was  intended  to  mean  that  there  had  been 
no  tortures  since  they  had  been  sent  to  a certain  prison. 
Another  foreigner  discussed  the  editorial  with  the  editor 
of  the  paper,  who  replied  that  he  knew  there  were  cruel- 
ties, but  that  in  making  that  statement,  he  was  “ speaking 
officially.”  * 

The  scope  of  this  chapter  will  not  permit  the  full 
discussion  of  the  various  phases  of  the  Japanese 
method  of  controlling  publicity.  For  that  I must  re- 
fer the  reader  to  my  other  book.  The  Oriental  Policy 
of  the  United  States,  in  which  I have  attempted  an 
exhaustive  treatment  of  Japan’s  propaganda.  Here  I 
shall  touch  only  on  those  points  that  have  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  Korean  question. 

For  years  Japan  has  controlled  the  incoming  and 

‘ From  a report  of  a Committee  of  American  Missionaries, 
published  in  Congressional  Record,  Vol.  58,  p.  2847,  July  17,  1919. 

241 


242 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


outgoing  news  of  the  Japanese  Empire,  and  it  is  steril- 
ized and  coloured  so  as  to  best  serve  the  purpose  of 
propaganda.  The  Kokusai  (Japanese  National  News 
Agency)  is  a subsidized  concern  and  operates  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  the  Japanese  Government. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  all  cable  and  telegraphic 
communications  in  Japan  are  owned  and  controlled  by 
the  Government.  The  Kokusai  can  magnify  or  mini- 
mize, as  well  as  create  or  suppress,  any  news  item  that 
goes  in  and  out  of  the  country  according  to  the  wishes 
of  tEe  Government. 

The  control  of  the  postal  system  is  equally  rigid. 
Opening  private  letters  is  a part  of  the  Governmental 
system  of  Japan,  and  is  in  perpetual  practice,  in  time 
of  peace  as  well  as  in  time  of  war.  If  a Korean  in 
America  should  write  a letter  to  his  friend  or  relative 
at  home  concerning  the  Japanese  administration  in 
Korea,  the  officials  not  only  destroy  the  letter,  but  also 
punish  the  receiver.  This  policy  serves  a double  func- 
tion for  the  Government:  (1)  The  Koreans  in  Korea 
not  only  must  be  silent  on  the  political  situation  at 
home  in  their  communications  to  their  brethren  abroad, 
but  cannot  receive  such  communications;  (2)  Foreign 
residents  in  Korea  must  not  criticize  the  Government 
either  in  or  out  of  Korea  if  they  wish  to  live  unmo- 
lested. If  an  American  resident  of  Korea  should  make 
a public  address  or  write  a magazine  article  while  in 
America  criticizing  the  Japanese  administration,  that 
speech  or  article  will  be  reported  back  to  Korea  by  the 
Japanese  secret  service  in  America.  Then  the  Ameri- 
can will  be  questioned  by  the  officials  on  his  return, 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY 


243 


and  if  his  explanations  are  not  satisfactory,  the  Gov- 
ernmental discrimination  is  such  that  he  will  have  to 
leave  the  country.  That  is  the  reason  for  the  volumi- 
nous reports  and  signed  affidavits  on  Japanese  atroci- 
ties in  connection  with  the  Korean  Independence 
Movement  of  1919,  which  were  brought  to  America 
through  underground  channels,  published  in  maga- 
zines, newspapers  and  pamphlets  by  various  mission 
boards  and  friends  of  American  missionaries  in  Korea 
under  a nom  de  plume. 

The  Japanese  Government  not  only  seek  to  suppress 
the  news  as  to  what  they  are  doing  in  Korea,  but  create 
news  favourable  to  their  policy.  One  of  the  first 
things  the  Japanese  did  in  Korea,  after  establishing 
their  protectorate,  was  to  create  a bureau  to  publish  an 
English  annual,  entitled.  The  Annual  Report  on  Re- 
forms and  Progress  in  Chosen.  This  English  publi- 
cation is  attractively  gotten  up  with  many  photo- 
graphic illustrations  and  is  distributed  gratis  to  all 
great  men  and  big  libraries  in  America  and  Great 
Britain.  It  tells  how  the  degenerate  Korean  race  is 
being  led  along  the  path  of  modern  civilization  by  the 
wise  and  humanitarian  statesmen  of  Japan;  and  that 
the  Korean  people  are  thoroughly  happy,  contented 
and  prosperous  under  Japanese  rule. 

The  vast  majority  of  American  and  British  publi- 
cists and  statesmen  take  the  official  statements  of  the 
Japanese  Government  as  being  based  upon  facts;  they 
never  stop  to  investigate  that  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment compile  statistics  to  prove  their  hypothesis,  not 
to  show  facts,  and  that  official  statements  are  made 


244 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


not  to  inform,  but  to  misinform,  the  unsuspecting 
Western  public.  However,  there  are  a number  of  men, 
both  in  America  and  Great  Britain,  who  know  some- 
thing about  the  tactics  of  the  Japanese,  and  who  do  not 
swallow  so  easily  the  official  bait  of  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment. Thus,  the  late  Walter  E.  Weyl,  a member 
of  the  New  Republic  staff,  who  was  in  Korea  in  1917, 
writes : 

On  the  whole,  Japan  has  tended  to  use  force  rather 
than  persuasion  and  repression  rather  than  freedom. 
There  has  been,  and  there  still  is,  a strict  political  censor- 
ship. The  full  measure  of  Japanese  success  in  Korea 
could  be  more  easily  ascertained  and  more  readily  ac- 
knowledged if  there  were  greater  freedom  in  the  penin- 
sula, were  there  not  an  official  terrorism  which  covers  up 
abuses  and  ruthlessly  represses  public  opinion  or  free 
expression  of  discontent.  Possessing  only  the  official 
Japanese  version  of  the  progress  in  Korea,  we  are  forced 
to  accept  all  reports  with  a grain  of  salt,  not  disregard- 
ing the  excellent  work  accomplished,  but  recalling  at 
least  that  we  have  here  a subject  population,  deprived  of 
primary  civil  and  political  rights,  unable  to  express  dis- 
approval, repressed  and  silent.  If,  in  such  a situation, 
one  is  grudging  in  praise,  the  fault  lies  with  Japan’s  mili- 
tary authorities,  who,  in  their  wisdom,  have  deprived  us 
of  the  right  to  hear  the  evidence  in  the  case.’ 

Dr.  William  Elliot  Griffis,  the  author  of  the 
Mikado’s  Empire  and  Korea — the  Hermit  Nation, 
minces  no  words  in  condemning  the  Japanese  methods 
of  covering  up  their  abuses  by  official  reports.  Says 
Dr.  Griffis: 

^Harper’s  Monthly  Magazine,  February,  1919,  p.  397. 


Henry  Chung.  Kiusic  Kimm.  Soon  Hyun 

THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  KOREAN  COMMISSION  TO  AMERICA  AND  EUROPE 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


245 


In  fact  and  truth,  the  day  has  gone  by  when  any  Gov- 
ernment dare  resent  as  “ interference  with  its  domestic 
concerns  ” the  protest  of  civilization  against  such  atroci- 
ties as  Japan  permits  in  Korea.  The  brutalities  of  her  un- 
derlings in  that  country,  whose  venerable  civilization  is 
menaced  with  destruction,  can  no  longer  be  concealed. 
As  for  the  Tokyo  Government,  or  any  of  its  literaiy 
bureaus,  attempting  a camouflage,  that  is  impossible  even 
with  a censorship  that  is  like  that  of  a blockaded  enemy 
country  in  time  of  war.  The  united  testimony  of  many 
witnesses,  long  resident  in  the  land  of  the  Morning  Calm, 
speaking  the  vernacular  and  beholding  deeds  which  they 
have  associated  hitherto  only  with  the  worst  brutalities 
of  war,  will,  in  the  end,  outweigh  the  moral  value  of 
official  bulletins  or  even  annual  publication  of  “ re- 
forms.” ‘ 

Cooperating  with  the  Annual  Report  is  the  Seoul 
Press,  the  only  English  daily  in  Korea.  It  is  sub- 
sidized by  the  Government  and  fulfills  the  functions 
of  informing  the  West  as  the  Japanese  would  like  to 
have  it  informed.  It  is  said  by  foreign  residents  of 
Korea,  and  admitted  by  Mr.  Yamagata,  the  editor  of 
the  Press,  that  Mr.  Yamagata  has  two  consciences — 
one  official  and  the  other  personal.  Whenever  he 
creates  a “ fact  ” or  garbles  a news  item,  his  official 
conscience  is  dominant  and  his  personal  conscience  re- 
cessive ; therefore,  he  is  not  responsible.  At  a meeting 
of  Japanese  officials  and  a number  of  prominent  Amer- 
ican missionaries  during  the  Independence  Demonstra- 
tions of  1919,  “ the  question  of  the  actuality  of  atroci- 

* William  Elliot  Griffis,  “An  American  View,”  The  Nation 
(New  York),  Vol.  io8.  No.  2812,  p.  830. 


246 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


ties  was  raised.  Dr.  Moffett  gave  his  own  personal 
experience  as  an  eye-witness.  In  a private  conversa- 
tion with  Dr.  Moffett,  Mr.  Yamagata  cheerfully  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  atroc- 
ities, but  he  said  that  the  denials,  as  published  in  the 
Press,  were  ‘ official.’  ” ' 

The  following  account  of  the  burning  of  a Christian 
church  at  Tyungju  by  Japanese  soldiers,  made  public 
by  the  Headquarters  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America,  at  New  York,  illustrates  the  kind  of  “ facts  ” 
published  in  the  Seoul  Press. 

The  Burning  of  Tyungju  Church 

We  give  two  accounts  herewith  of  the  burning  of  the 
church  at  Tyungju,  North  Pyeng  An  Province.  The  one 
is  by  the  Seoul  Press,  a Government-controlled  paper, 
and  the  other  by  the  pastor  of  the  church,  an  American 
missionary,  who  saw  the  church  and  made  careful  in- 
vestigations. The  reader  is  at  liberty  to  draw  his  con- 
clusions : 

Christian  Church  Burned.  {Seoul  Press,  April  13, 
1919). 

“ On  Tuesday,  at  six  a.  m.,  fire  broke  out  in  a Chris- 
tian church  at  Tyungju,  site  of  a district  office  in  North 
Pyeng  An  Province,  and  the  whole  building  was  re- 
duced to  ashes. 

“ The  loss  is  estimated  at  10,000  yen. 

“ It  is  suspected  that  some  Koreans,  detesting  the  pur- 
poseless agitation,  have  been  driven  by  their  bitter  in- 
dignation to  commit  incendiarism  at  the  expense  of  the 
church.” 

The  following  is  from  the  pastor  of  the  church : 

“ Burning  of  Tyungju  Church — On  April  8,  gendarmes 
* The  Korean  Situation,  p.  2& 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


247 


came  to  the  large  newly  built  church  in  Tyungju  City, 
gathered  the  mats  and  other  furniture  together,  and  set 
fire  to  them.  They  also  put  out  the  fire.  The  Christians 
have  been  bending  every  energy  to  the  building  and  pay- 
ing for  this  building. 

“ On  April  9,  at  night,  as  on  the  8th,  a large  pile  of 
combustible  material  was  heaped  upon  the  pulpit  and 
set  on  fire.  A deacon  of  the  church  rang  the  bell,  and  a 
few  Christians  came  together  and  put  it  out.  The  next 
morning  the  police  commanded  the  Christians,  who  had 
houses  near  the  church,  to  move  away,  the  pretext  being 
that  they  had  set  fire  to  the  church, 

“ On  April  10,  combustibles  were  put  all  about  the 
church,  and  soaked  in  coal  oil,  and  then  set  on  fire. 
They,  also,  rang  the  bell,  but  no  one  came,  and  the 
church  burned  to  the  ground. 

“ On  April  1 1,  the  wife  of  the  pastor  and  some  of 
the  church  officers  were  called  up  and  rebuked  for  burn- 
ing the  church.  They  also  gave  them  a lecture  on  what 
low-down  rascals  the  Christians  were,  stating  that  not  a 
single  person  would  come  out  to  help  put  out  the  fire. 
As  a matter  of  fact,  any  appearing  on  the  streets  at  night 
are  severely  beaten,  and  otherwise  mistreated. 

“ There  was  a statement  in  the  Japanese  press  that 
Christians  set  the  church  on  fire  to  show  their  disap- 
proval of  the  leaders  of  the  church  in  the  Independence 
Movement.  No  comments  needed.” 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  more.  These  articles  speak 
for  themselves.  The  reader  can  judge 'of  the  attitude  of 
the  press  when  the  Government  permits  such  stuff  to  be 
printed.  As  the  press  always  is  under  the  censor  there, 
when  such  stuff  is  printed  the  Government  becomes 
morally  responsible.  The  truth  is  prohibited.  False- 
hoods and  libels  are  allowed.  Such  a course  of  action 


248 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


only  endangers  the  relations  of  the  Governments  con- 
cerned.* 

The  foreign  visitor  in  Korea  must  not  learn  the 
actual  conditions  if  the  Japanese  can  help  it.  Thus, 
for  example,  if  a distinguished  American  comes  to 
Korea,  he  is  met  at  the  pier  by  a polished  official  guide 
who  is  conversant  in  Western  manners  and  customs. 
He  is  directed  to  a hotel  (usually  the  Chosen  Hotel 
which  belongs  to  the  Japanese  Imperial  Railway) ; he 
is  interviewed  by  Japanese  officials  who  explain  the 
condition  of  the  country  to  him ; he  is  taken  here  and 
there;  he  is  entertained  until  his  own  appreciation  of 
himself  grows  immeasurably.  He  is  flattered  and 
handled  so  skilfully  that  he  leaves  the  country  in  a 
haze  of  happy  delight  over  the  wonders  he  has  been 
shown  and  the  wonderful  courtesy  and  hospitality  of 
the  showing.  He  returns  to  America  praising  the 
Japanese  for  the  wonderful  work  that  they  are  doing 
in  Korea.  The  following  paragraph  from  the  pen  of 
Elsie  McCormick,  who  visited  Korea  in  March,  1920, 
is  interesting: 

True  to  certain  predictions,  a suave  young  Japanese 
met  us  at  the  station  in  Seoul,  announcing  that  he  was 
the  personal  representative  of  the  Govemor-Gieneral. 
He  had  heard  that  some  distinguished  American  ladies 
were  coming,  and  he  would  be  most  happy  to  put  him- 
self at  their  disposal.  Were  they  to  stay  long  in  the  city? 
Perhaps  they  would  like  him  to  make  out  a schedule, 
so  that  they  would  be  sure  of  seeing  the  most  interesting 
points.  At  least,  being  educators,  they  would  enjoy  a 

‘New  York  Times,  July  13,  1919. 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


249 


visit  to  the  Government  schools.  He  would  be  most 
pleased  to  take  them.  And  he  also  was  commissioned 
to  announce  that  the  Governor-General  and  his  wife 
looked  forward  to  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  the  ladies 
at  luncheon. 

“ Propaganda  is  Japan’s  middle  name,”  remarked  an 
American  resident  of  Seoul,  after  the  young  Japanese 
had  withdrawn  with  many  bows  and  smiles.’ 

Fortunately  for  Miss  McCormick,  she  was  fore- 
warned by  her  friends  who  know  the  method  of  Japa- 
nese before  she  went  to  Korea.  “If  you  permit  the 
Japanese  to  take  you  in  tow  at  Seoul,  you  will  see 
only  what  they  want  you  to  see.  Insist  on  studying 
conditions  for  yourself.”  Consequently,  she  knew 
what  she  would  encounter.  But  the  majority  of  un- 
suspecting visitors  fall  into  the  official  trap  of  the 
Japanese  Government  propaganda. 

This  falsified  publicity  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean 
could  not  have  been  such  a success  had  it  not  secured 
the  cooperation  of  pro-Japanese  propaganda  in  Amer- 
ica. Japan  is  a nation  that  knows  the  publicity  game, 
and  plays  it  with  consummate  skill.  During  the  Peace 
Conference  she  spent  $10,000,000  in  various  European 
countries  for  propaganda  work.  At  present  she  spends 
several  million  dollars  every  year  in  America  for  the 
purpose  of  “ conquest  of  American  opinion.’’ ' “ Japa- 
nese propaganda  is  being  carried  on  in  this  country  as 
determinedly  as  was  the  German  propaganda  before 

^Christian  'Herald  (New  York),  April  17,  1920,  p.  469. 

* For  a full  description  of  Japanese  propaganda  methods  in 
America,  consult  Montaville  Flowers,  Japanese  Conquest  of 
American  Opinion  (New  York,  1916). 


260 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


we  entered  the  war,”  says  V.  S.  McClatchy,  the  editor 
of  the  Sacramento  Bee. 

There  are  the  various  Japan- American  Societies,  or- 
ganized ostensibly  to  promote  friendly  relations,  but 
used  generally  to  secure  the  active  but  innocent  assist- 
ance of  prominent  Americans  in  propaganda  work;  the 
commercial  and  trade  organizations  used  in  the  same 
way;  the  entertainment  in  Japan  of  prominent  Ameri- 
cans, who  come  back  with  a dazzling  picture  of  one  side 
of  the  shield,  and  who,  apparently,  do  not  know  that  the 
shield  has  a reverse  side;  men  in  public  speeches  and 
interviews  make  assertions  which  any  one  familiar  with 
Far  Eastern  conditions  knows  are  entirely  wrong;  ban- 
quets and  speeches  where  most  publicity  can  be  secured; 
special  annual  Japanese  numbers  of  American  news- 
papers; public  lectures  and  interviews  with  hired  propa- 
gandists, both  Japanese  and  American;  Japanese  news 
bureaus  and  magazines/ 

Such  men  as  K.  K.  Kawakami,  the  Japanese  pub- 
licist, who  is  at  the  head  of  the  “ Pacific  Press  Bureau,” 
at  San  Francisco,  and  Dr.  T.  lyenaga,  the  Director  of 
“ East  and  West  News  Bureau,”  of  New  York,  are 
nationally  known,  and  they  wield  an  influence  at  the 
fountain  heads  of  publicity  in  America.  Besides  the 
regular  paid  propagandists,  both  Japanese  and  Ameri- 
can, there  are  a number  of  people  who  are  sincerely 
won  over  by  the  finer  sides  of  the  Japanese  character. 
And  then  there  is  the  group  whose  services  are  en- 
listed by  subtle  means  of  delicate  flattery  and  social 
ambition.  The  members  of  the  Japan  Society  of  New 

’From  the  Sacramento  Bee,  June  9,  1919;  also  cf.  pamphlet. 
The  Germany  of  Asia,  part  II,  article  1,  by  McClatchy. 


“ SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY  » 


261 


York  are  mostly  from  the  latter  two  groups.  The  So- 
ciety, at  present,  boasts  a membership  of  nearly  two 
thousand  prominent  business  and  professional  men 
and  women  in  the  country,  and  its  annual  dinners  at 
the  Astor  Hotel  in  New  York  are  the  occasions  when 
the  “ sincere  friendship  ” between  America  and  Japan 
and  the  “ altruism  ” of  Japan  towards  other  Asiatic 
countries  are  given  in  wine-warmed  sentiments  of 
after  dinner  speeches. 

When  the  Mansei  demonstrations  commenced  in 
March,  1919,  a publicist  for  Japan  lost  no  time  in  de- 
nouncing the  work  of  the  Korean  patriots.  It  was  the 
work  of  “ scoundrels  and  rascals,”  said  he,  “ and  the 
Korean  people  themselves  had  become  weary  of  agita- 
tion and  angry  at  the  obstacles  placed  in  the  way  of 
the  education  of  their  children;  many  of  them  even 
welcomed  the  arrest  by  the  Government  of  those  of 
their  fellow-countrymen  who  were  charged  with  co- 
ercing boys  and  girls  to  absent  themselves  from 
school.”  He  charged  the  missionaries  with  “ gross 
exaggerations,”  for  the  reports  sent  to  this  country 
and  exonerated  the  Japanese  soldiers  for  their  atroci- 
ties. Says  this  publicist;  “when  unscrupulous  scoun- 
drels . . . collect  at  a certain  spot  and  mansei 

a few  times,  they  will  receive  thirty  sen  each  for  their 
pains,  and  then  are  led  on  to  assault  the  police  station, 
or  stone  the  workmen  at  their  work,  some  one  is  sure 
to  get  hurt  even  by  soldiers  much  less  excitable  and 
much  more  humane  than  are  the  Japanese  soldiery.”  ‘ 

Explanations  would  be  unnecessary.  Life  is  cheap 
‘New  York  Times,  May  ii,  1919. 


262 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


in  Korea — very  cheap,  indeed,  from  the  Japanese  point 
of  view.  But  not  so  cheap  as  to  induce  Koreans  to 
cheer  for  their  country  for  thirty  sen  (fifteen  cents) 
and  get  shot  or  sabred.  It  is  gratifying,  indeed,  to 
know  that  there  are  plenty  of  publicists  and  scholars 
in  America  who  will  not  stoop  to  venality  or  allow 
prejudice  to  garble  truth.  The  various  methods  em- 
ployed by  the  Japanese  Government  in  an  attempt  to 
distort  facts  concerning  the  Korean  Independence 
Movement  would  fill  a volume.  Therefore,  only  an 
epitome  of  the  successive  steps  taken  by  the  Japanese 
Government  can  be  given  in  the  remainder  of  this 
chapter. 

As  has  been  pointed  out  in  previous  chapters,  the 
Korean  Independence  Movement  was  national  in  its 
scope,  involving  the  entire  population.  It  was,  in  re- 
ality, the  greatest  popular  movement  in  the  recent  his- 
tory of  Korea.  Yet  the  Japanese,  through  their  abso- 
lute control  of  cable  and  telegraph  systems,  kept  the 
outside  world  in  total  darkness  at  first.  Even  the 
Japanese  vernacular  press  in  Korea,  in  cooperation 
with  the  Government,  did  not  print  anything  concern- 
ing the  disturbance.  When  the  newspapers  in  Peking 
and  Shanghai  began  to  print  letters  frorn  foreign  resi- 
dents in  Korea,  received  through  underground  chan- 
nels, on  what  was  happening  in  the  peninsula,  the 
Seoul  Press  promptly  denied  the  reports  of  serious 
disturbances  and  printed  a short  item  that  there  was 
a little  riot  in  a country  district  in  northern  Korea 
which  was  quickly  suppressed  by  the  police.  Mean- 
while, some  of  the  missionaries  in  Korea  made  special 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


263 


trips  to  China  to  mail  their  letters  home  in  order  to 
avoid  the  Japanese  censor.  No  sooner  were  Japanese 
atrocities  revealed  through  publication  of  these  private 
letters  in  the  American  press  than  the  Foreign  Office  at 
Tokyo  denied  all  the  charges  of  atrocities  committed  by 
the  Japanese  soldiers  and  police  in  Korea.  The  Japa- 
nese Embassy  at  Washington  gave  official  dispatches  to 
the  press  of  the  country  to  the  effect  that  “ only  one 
person  was  killed  and  six  wounded  in  Seoul  from  the 
start  of  the  disturbance  until  very  recently.”  The 
official  dispatch  proceeds: 

Perfect  care  is  being  taken  by  the  authorities,  aided  by 
the  Red  Cross,  of  all  the  wounded,  who  have  been  taken 
to  charity  and  official  hospitals  in  the  provinces.  The 
charge  that  churches,  schools  and  houses  of  riotous 
meetings  were  destroyed  by  the  authorities  is  entirely 
unfounded,  and  in  no  case  have  the  leaders  of  the  dis- 
turbance been  put  to  torture.' 

This  official  statement,  made  by  the  Japanese  Em- 
bassy in  Washington,  was  based  on  official  communi- 
cations received  from  the  Japanese  Government  at 
Tokyo,  headed  by  the  civil,  not  military.  Prime  Min- 
ister Kara  and  his  able  assistant,  Baron  Uchida,  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs.  It  was  given  to  the  press  on 
April  24,  1919,  while  the  reign  of  terror  was  going  on 
full  blast  in  Korea.  Only  nine  days  prior  to  the  is- 
suance of  this  official  dispatch,  April  15,  the  Chai- 
amm-ni  massacre  took  place,  which  the  Governor- 
General  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  on  account  of 

*New  York  Times,  April  25,  1919. 


254 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


the  investigations  made  by  the  British  Consul-General, 
Mr.  Royds,  and  the  American  Consul,  Mr.  Curtice. 
Wounded  men  were  removed  from  the  Severance  Hos- 
pital to  be  the  victims  of  further  tortures,  despite  the 
protest  of  the  physicians.  This  was  done  on  April 
10,  only  two  weeks  prior  to  the  official  dispatch  that 
“ perfect  care  is  being  taken  by  authorities  of  all  the 
wounded.” 

Not  only  the  Japanese  Embassy  at  Washington,  but 
all  the  Japanese  Consulates  throughout  the  United 
States  issued  official  statements  denying  the  charges 
of  cruelty  on  the  part  of  Japanese  soldiers  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Independence  Movement  in  Korea. 
However,  these  denials  did  not  get  much  hearing, 
since  the  evidence  confirming  the  atrocities  was  too 
strong.  Then  the  official  Tokyo  Issued  another  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  a certain  amount  of  repression 
was  necessary  in  crushing  the  Korean  movement,  as 
it  was  inspired  and  directed  by  the  Russian  Bolsheviki. 
Again  the  official  statement  was  given  very  little  cre- 
dence in  the  American  press.  Says  the  New  York 
Sun  editorially: 

The  Japanese  have  made  a display  of  frankness  as 
to  their  repressive  measures.  This  falls  in  with  their 
laying  the  disturbances  to  Bolsheviki  propaganda.  The 
trouble,  even  from  here,  may  be  seen  really  to  partake 
more  of  nationalism  than  of  class  war.  This  being  the 
case,  the  Japanese  avowals  of  troops  sent,  of  wholesale 
arrests,  of  stories  permitted  to  come  to  us  of  wounded 
fugitives  taken  from  American  Missionary  hospitals,  of 
American  missionaries  arrested  on  suspicion  of  aiding 
the  rebels — all  put  Japan  in  a dubious  light,  for  they 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY » 


266 


proclaim  tHe  failure  of  her  labours  to  domesticate  the 
national  spirit  of  the  conquered  land. 

When  no  other  excuse  was  available  for  their  bru- 
talities in  Korea,  the  Japanese  Government  forthwith 
announced  the  “ Reforms  ” that  they  were  about  to 
initiate  in  Korea.  They  thus  shifted  the  basis  of  their 
tactics  in  their  publicity  propaganda  in  the  West, 
adopting  a new  program  far  more  subtle  than  mere 
denials,  and  consequently,  more  susceptible  to  the  un- 
suspecting, They  now  admit  wrongs  have  been  done 
to  the  Koreans,  but  say  it  was  all  the  fault  of  their 
militarists  over  whom  the  civilian  Premier  had  no 
control,  and  of  whose  deeds  the  Tokyo  Government 
was  ignorant. 

This  is  the  most  subtly  deceiving  argument  that  the 
Japanese  Government  has  yet  invented.  This  places 
Japan  in  a naive  attitude  of  repentance  and  tends  to 
deceive  even  those  who  know  the  record  of  Japan  in 
Korea.  But  close  investigation  cannot  but  reveal  that 
the  so-called  civil  party  and  military  party  in  Japan 
are  one  in  advancing  the  cause  of  Greater  Japan.  The 
terms  “ military  party  ” and  “ militarists  ” are  used  by 
Japanese  officials  and  spokesmen  for  Japan  as  scape- 
goats when  direct  acts  of  injustice  and  aggression, 
which  they  cannot  deny,  are  brought  to  their  attention. 
It  is  beyond  question  that  all  the  Japanese  atrocities  in 
Korea  have  been  committed  by  the  order  of  the  Japa- 
nese Government  in  Tokyo,  and  not  by  military  offi- 
cials on  their  own  initiative,  as  the  events  prove. 

In  March,  1919,  Mr.  T.  Yamagata,  the  Director- 


256 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


General  of  Administration,  was  called  to  Tokyo  for  a 
conference  with  the  Government.  Much  was  hoped 
that  the  “ Liberal  ” Premier  of  Japan,  T.  Kara,  the 
head  of  the  Civil  Party,  would  declare  himself  against 
the  cruelties  that  had  been  employed.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  was  decided  by  Kara  and  his  “ Liberal  ” as- 
sociates to  employ  harsher  measures.  Six  thousand 
soldiers  and  400  gendarmes  were  promptly  dispatched 
to  Korea  to  carry  on  the  work  of  human  butchery. 
And  by  far  the  worst  atrocities  and  massacres  were 
committed  by  these  newcomers.  When  incidents  of 
massacres  were  brought  directly  to  his  attention  by 
foreign  eye-witnesses,  the  “ Liberal  ” Premier  shed 
crocodile  tears. 

The  underlings  in  Korea,  who  were  carr\dng  out  the 
orders  of  this  “ Liberal  ” Premier,  also  adopted  two- 
faced  methods  in  their  reign  of  terror.  Thus  General 
Utsonomiya,  commander  of  the  military  forces  of 
Japan,  in  Korea,  while  secretly  instructing  his  officers 
and  men  to  burn  and  kill,  issued  the  following  public 
instruction  to  his  soldiers  as  to  their  attitude  towards 
the  revolutionists: 

Warm  sympathy  should  be  shown  to  the  erring 
Koreans,  who,  in  spite  of  their  offense,  should  be  treated 
as  unfortunate  fellow-countrymen,  needing  love  and  guid- 
ance. 

Use  of  weapons  should  be  abstained  from  till  the  last 
moment  of  absolute  necessity.  Where,  for  instance,  the 
demonstration  is  confined  merely  to  processions  and  the 
shouting  of  Mansei  and  no  violence  is  done,  efforts  should 
be  confined  to  the  dispersal  of  crowds  by  peaceful  per- 
suasion. 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


267 


Even  in  case  force  is  employed  as  the  last  resource, 
endeavour  should  be  made  to  limit  its  use  to  the  mini- 
mum extent. 

The  moment  the  necessity  therefor  ceases,  the  use  of 
force  should  at  once  be  stopped.  . . . 

Special  care  should  be  taken  not  to  harm  anybody  not 
participating  in  disturbances,  especially  aged  people,  chil- 
dren and  women.  With  regard  to  the  missionaries  and 
other  foreigners,  except  in  case  of  the  plainest  evidence, 
as,  for  instance,  where  they  are  caught  in  the  act,  all 
forbearance  and  circumspection  should  be  used. 

You  are  expected  to  see  to  it  that  the  officers  and  men 
under  you  (especially  those  detailed  in  small  parties) 
will  lead  a clean  and  decent  life  and  be  modest  and  po- 
lite, without  abating  their  loyalty  and  courage,  thus  ex- 
emplifying in  their  conduct  the  noble  traditions  of  our 
historic  Bushido."  . . . 

These  public  instructions  were  issued  on  March  12, 
and  the  worst  burnings  and  massacres  occurred  during 
the  latter  part  of  March  and  April  following,  which 
is  conclusive  evidence  that  this  was  issued  for  effect 
and  not  to  be  carried  out.  High  sounding  proclama- 
tions and  instructions,  such  as  this,  were  printed  in 
the  Seoul  Press  and  were  circulated  by  Japanese  prop- 
agandists in  America  and  Europe  as  proof  of  the 
falsity  of  the  charges  of  atrocities. 

The  latest  developments  in  “ Speaking  Officially  ” 
on  the  “ Benevolent  Assimilation  ” of  the  Koreans  was 
in  connection  with  the  visit  of  the  Congressional  Party 
to  the  Far  East  in  July  and  August,  1920. 

’ Quoted  by  Bishop  Herbert  Welch,  “ The  Korean  Independence 
Movement  of  1919,”  The  Christian  Advocate  (New  York),  July 
31,  1919,  p.  971, 


258 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Korea  was  included  in  the  itinerary  of  the  party. 
American  Solons  must  be  kept  out  of  Korea,  if  at  all 
possible.  It  would  not  do  for  the  good  name  and  fame 
of  Japan  to  give  American  Congressmen  a chance  to 
study  the  conditions  at  first  hand.  Weeks  before  the 
party  reached  Korea,  the  Japanese  Government  news 
agencies  became  busy  sending  out  broadcast  the  ru- 
mour that  Asiatic  cholera  was  raging  in  Korea.  It 
would  be  the  height  of  folly  for  Americans  to  visit 
that  plague-infested  country.  However,  this  did  not 
seem  to  bother  the  Americans  touring  the  Orient. 
Then  suddenly  there  was  a plot  on  the  part  of  the 
Koreans  to  bomb  the  Congressional  Party.  This  also 
did  not  seem  to  bother  the  stalwart  Americans.  When 
it  was  definitely  known  that  the  Congressional  Party 
would  visit  Korea  despite  the  cholera  and  the  threat 
of  the  Koreans  to  bomb  the  party,  the  Japanese  Min- 
ister at  Peking  assured  the  party  that  the  danger  was 
“ real.”  But  since  the  party  had  decided  to  visit 
Korea,  the  authorities  would  use  every  precaution  to 
insure  their  safety.  He  emphasized  the  point  that  it 
was  absolutely  essential  for  the  members  of  the  party 
to  obey  the  police  instructions  while  in  Korea  so  as  to 
avoid  the  bomb  throwers. 

On  the  day  the  party  was  to  arrive  (August  24), 
“ the  streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station  and  up  to  the 
main  post-office  were  virtually  cleared  of  Koreans,” 
writes  an  American  eye-witness  in  the  Japan  Adver- 
tiser, ” and  even  Americans  and  other  foreigners,  com- 
ing from  the  center  of  the  city  to  welcome  the  guests, 
were  turned  back  by  the  sabre  of  the  police,  and  some 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


259 


made  their  way  to  the  station  by  back  alleys.  Japa- 
nese civilians,  however,  were  free  to  promenade  as 
they  pleased.  When  the  guests  at  length  arrived,  they 
were  driven  to  the  Chosen  Hotel,  through  streets  al- 
most bare  of  the  people  and  lined  by  the  large  force  of 
police  already  referred  to.  Had  the  Koreans  been  per- 
mitted to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  party,  its  progress 
to  the  hotel  would,  undoubtedly,  have  been  one  con- 
tinued ovation.”  ^ 

The  Pacific  Commercial  Advertiser  at  Honolulu, 
which  knows  something  of  the  traits  of  Japanese  di- 
plomacy and  propaganda  through  its  long  contact  with 
the  Japanese,  commented  editorially  when  neither 
cholera  nor  bomb  throwing  was  discovered  except  the 
rumour  and  the  signs  manufactured  by  the  Japanese 
Government  in  Korea: 

An  Absurd  Plot 

If  Japan’s  militarists  were  not  sadly  lacking  in  a sense 
of  humour,  they  could  not  avoid  seeing  the  absurdity 
of  the  efforts  they  are  making  to  keep  the  American 
congressmen,  and  the  world  at  large,  from  learning  the 
truth  about  Korea  and  their  mis-government  of  that  sor- 
rowful country. 

Days  before  the  congressional  party  started  north  to 
pay  a brief  visit  to  Korea,  frantic  efforts  were  made  by 
the  Japanese  Government  officials  to  keep  them  out  of 
that  countr>\  It  would  hardly  do,  of  course,  to  flatly 
refuse  permission  for  the  congressmen  to  visit  Korea,  so 
they  were  told  that  a horrible  plot  had  been  concocted 
by  the  wicked  Koreans  to  kidnap  them,  perhaps  even 


’ Quoted  in  the  Literary  Digest,  November  13,  1920. 


260 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


blow  them  up  with  bombs,  so  as  to  embroil  the  United 
States  and  Japan. 

When  the  Japanese  discovered  that  American  con- 
gressmen were  not  to  be  frightened  by  such  ridiculous 
yarns  and  were  still  determined  on  visiting  Seoul,  they 
played  another  card.  They  figured  that  if  they  couldn’t 
keep  the  congressmen  out  of  Korea,  they  could,  at  least, 
keep  the  Koreans  away  from  the  congressmen. 

So  the  Japanese  army  authorities  in  Korea  announced 
that  in  order  to  safeguard  the  Americans  they  would  be 
guarded  by  the  entire  Japanese  army  in  Korea.  And 
they  were,  too. 

In  other  words,  a military  cordon  was  thrown  around 
them,  so  that  Koreans  who  wished  to  approach  them  and 
tell  them  the  truth  about  conditions  in  Chosen  might  be 
headed  off.  Small  chance  any  Korean  would  have  to 
present  facts  to  the  Americans ! Small  chance  the  latter 
have  of  making  any  real  investigation ! They  are,  po- 
litely, of  course,  prevented  from  getting  away  from  their 
Japanese  guards. 

But  unless  we  miss  our  guess  badly,  the  action  of  the 
Japanese  officials  will  react  unfavourably  upon  their 
Government.  There  are  few  American  congressmen, 
we  hope,  who  would  be  taken  in  by  any  scheme  as  raw 
as  the  one  mentioned.  And  attempts  to  deceive  them  are 
not  liable  to  enhance  the  position  of  Japan  in  their  eyes.’ 

The  Pacific  Commercial  Advertiser  had  not  missed 
much  in  its  guess.  Amidst  all  the  lavish  entertain- 
ment and  effusive  hospitality  of  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment, there  was  at  least  one  Congressman  in  the  party 
who  saw  for  himself  the  conditions  of  the  country, 
untrammelled  by  the  deference  of  officials  who  pointed 

^Pacific  Commercial  Advertiser  (Honolulu,  T.  H.),  August 
26,  1920. 


“ SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY  ” 


261 


to  only  the  bright  spots.  He  was  Hugh  S.  Hersman 
of  California,  who  is  well  known  in  his  state  for  his 
independence  of  judgment.  Mr.  Hersman  politely 
refused  to  be  guided  around  by  Japanese  officials  and 
went  about  unescorted  by  the  police,  braving  the 
danger  of  being  blown  up  by  Korean  bomb-throw- 
ers— the  peril  which  was  so  “ imminent  ” and  “ real.” 
He  accepted  the  invitation  to  address  the  Korean 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Seoul.  The  hall  was  crowded  and  the 
American  Congressman  was  given  a rousing  cheer. 
In  his  address  he  made  the  significant  statement  that 
he  was  “ glad  to  see  something  of  the  Koreans  before 
leaving  the  country.”  After  his  address  soldiers  and 
police  rushed  into  the  hall  requesting  Congressman 
Hersman  to  leave,  and  began  to  arrest  the  Koreans. 
Mr.  Hersman  refused  to  leave  insisting  that  if  any  one 
should  be  taken  he  was  the  one  and  not  the  Koreans. 
This  firm  stand  taken  by  the  Congressman  made  the 
Japanese  police  release  all  the  arrested  Koreans. 

This  incident  so  disgusted  Mr.  Hersman  that  he 
withdrew  from  the  party  which  was  accepting  the  hos- 
pitality of  the  Japanese  Government,  and  went  around 
unofficially  during  the  rest  of  the  journey  through  the 
Orient. 

In  a carefully  prepared  statement  given  to  the  press 
after  his  landing  at  San  Francisco  on  October  2,  Mr. 
Hersman  said; 

Any  reference  to  political  matters  was,  of  course,  care- 
fully avoided.  For  five  or  six  minutes  I addressed  the 
most  eager,  intense  and  expectant  audience  that  it  will 
ever  be  my  good  fortune  to  face.  My  words  were  in- 


262 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


terpreted  by  Mr.  Yun  Chi  Ho,  A short  reply  was  made 
by  the  venerable  Korean,  Yi  Sang-jai,  who  had  spent 
three  years  in  jail  for  preferring  to  be  ruled  over  by  a 
Korean  rather  than  by  a Japanese. 

♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦* 

The  Koreans,  evidently  expecting  to  go  out,  followed 
us  into  the  lobby.  They  were  grabbed  by  the  officers 
and  brutally  kicked  and  manhandled.  Both  Mr.  Gregg* 
and  myself  vigorously  protested  at  such  treatment.  I 
was  informed  by  the  officer  in  charge  that  the  Koreans 
had  all  sbeen  arrested  and  that  I was  expected  to  go.  I 
told  them  that  if  any  one  should  be  taken  I was  the  one 
and  not  the  Koreans.  They  were  very  insistent,  and  I 
finally  said  I would  not  go  until  they  released  all  the 
Koreans.  After  an  hour  had  been  spent  in  consultation 
and  in  sending  messages,  the  Koreans  were  finally  re- 
leased. 

Our  Consul  arrived  on  the  scene  about  this  time,  hav- 
ing heard  from  several  foreigners  who  left  the  building 
that  I was  in  grave  danger  of  being  arrested.  A number 
of  statements  have  appeared  in  Japanese  papers  stating 
that  the  police  action  was  justified,  because  of  the  crowds 
that  had  filled  the  streets  and  the  disorder  in  the  hall. 
This  statement  is,  of  course,  untrue.  I never  saw  a more 
orderly  crowd. 

I have  talked  with  many  foreign  residents  from  China, 
Korea  and  Japan,  with  officers  of  the  de  facto  Govern- 
ment and  the  Koreans  themselves.  I am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  policy  of  the  Imperial  Japanese  Gk)vernment  has 
been  of  such  a nature  that  the  Korean  people  will  never 
peaceably  submit  to  it.‘ 

From  the  time  the  Congressional  Party  left  Peking 
until  they  arrived  in  Japan,  the  semi-official  news 

^ San  Francisco  Chronicle,  San  Francisco  Examiner,  October 
3.  1920. 


“SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY” 


263 


agencies  at  Tokyo  kept  the  wires  busy  with  the  hor- 
rible reports  of  the  Korean  “ plots  ” to  kill  every  one 
of  the  party.  The  Japanese  authorities  “ learned  the 
news  that  some  Koreans  broke  six  rails  of  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway  to  derail  the  special  train  and 
harm  the  American  statesmen  and  party.” 

It  was  somewhat  ungrateful  to  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment, in  view  of  all  the  ultra-precautions  taken  by 
them  to  protect  the  Congressional  Party  from  Korean 
“ anarchists,”  that  not  a single  Senator  or  Congress- 
man of  the  party,  after  his  return  to  America,  ever 
mentioned  the  horrible  train-wrecking,  bomb-throwing 
plots  or  even  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Koreans  to  the 
American  party.  On  the  contrary,  every  one  of  the 
Congressional  Party  spoke  of  the  Koreans  as  looking 
towards  America  for  moral  support  and  sympathy  in 
their  struggle  for  liberty. 

The  Hon.  Henry  Z.  Osborne  of  California,  who 
was  a member  of  the  Party  touring  the  Orient,  in  a 
speech  delivered  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
December  23,  1920,  described  the  Japanese  official  re- 
ports of  Korean  “ plots  ” so  inconsequent  that  ” we 
never  even  had  a meeting  on  the  subject.  In  fact,  we 
knew  that,  like  the  Chinese,  they  [Koreans]  regard 
the  United  States  as  their  only  possible  hope.  . . . 

The  Japanese  authorities  . . . took  a good  deal 

of  pains  to  make  sure  that  we  should  see  as  few 
Koreans  as  possible.  None  were  permitted  to  come 
near  the  railway  stations,  and  soldiers  were  in  evi- 
dence on  every  hand.”  In  relating  his  impressions  of 
the  Korean  people,  Mr.  Osborne  said: 


264 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


They  have  the  appearance  of  excellent  people,  and 
those  that  we  met  were  generally  bright,  intellectually; 
but  in  Korea,  for  the  reasons  that  I have  stated,  we  did 
not  meet  many.  We  travelled  all  day — Tuesday,  August 
24 — through  this  beautiful  country,  for  which  nature 
has  done  so  much,  stopping  frequently  at  well-built  sta- 
tions, at  which  uniformed  soldiers  or  police  were  in  at- 
tendance, with  the  constant  spectacle  of  crowds  of 
Korean  people — men,  women,  and  children — standing  off 
at  a distance  and  looking  wistfully  at  the  train.  While 
they  occasionally  shouted  and  cheered,  more  generally 
they  stood  in  silence,  and  we  could  only  guess  what  may 
have  been  in  their  thoughts.  But  it  seemed  to  me  a silent 
and  impressive  protest  to  the  foreign  occupation  of  their 
country,  more  expressive  than  words.  I doubt  if  our 
party  would  have  been  so  deeply  impressed  if  the  Koreans 
had  been  permitted  to  throng  the  stations  and  besiege 
us  with  verbal  and  written  petitions  and  protests.’ 

The  Hon.  Stephen  G.  Porter  of  Pennsylvania, 
Chairman  of  the  House  Foreign  Affairs  Committee, 
in  a public  address,  said: 

The  Filipinos,  Chinese  and  Koreans  fairly  idolize 
Americans,  while  the  Japanese,  at  the  best,  have  a cordial 
dislike  for  this  country.  . . . The  worship  of  Ameri- 
cans by  the  Chinese  and  Koreans  has  reached  such  a 
stage  where  natives  of  those  countries  virtually  put  us 
on  a pedestal  beside  Buddha. 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Porter  and  others  noted  a 
different  feeling  in  Japan.  Continuing  he  said: 

We  were  cordially  received  in  Japan,  but  there  is  an 

China,  Korea  and  Japan  as  seen  with  the  Congressional 
Party  of  1920,”  Congressional  Record,  Vol.  60,  No.  17,  pp.  781- 
802,  December  27,  1920. 


“ SPEAKING  OFFICIALLY  » 


266 


undercurrent  of  feeling  against  this  country  there.  This 
is  evident  to  any  American  visiting  the  Japanese  Islands. 
Many  newspapers  and  public  men  in  Japan  even  now  are 
talking  of  war  with  the  United  States,  seeing  in  this  coun- 
try their  greatest  enemy  in  their  present-day  efforts  at 
domination.*  . . . 

In  April,  1919,  while  the  Japanese  reign  of  terror 
was  going  on  in  Korea,  I had  a long  interview  with 
the  president  of  one  of  the  largest  news  agencies  in 
America  with  the  hope  of  convincing  him  of  the  ad- 
visability of  sending  a special  correspondent  to  Korea 
to  report  the  conditions.  After  listening  to  my  story, 
he  said: 

I would  gladly  send  a man  capable  of  handling  the 
situation  if  such  a man  were  available.  But  at  present 
all  my  best  men  are  at  Paris  reporting  on  the  Peace  Con- 
ference. If  a correspondent  were  to  be  sent  to  Korea, 
he  must  be  a man  internationally  known,  whose  integrity 
and  ability  no  one  would  question.  Otherwise,  the  cor- 
respondent may  be  an  eye-witness  to  what  he  writes,  yet 
the  Japanese  will  have  their  Premier  make  out  an  affidavit 
to  the  contrary. 

It  is,  indeed,  gratifying  to  know  that  a few  of  the 
publicists  in  the  West  are  beginning  to  realize  the 
dubious  methods  of  diplomacy  and  publicity  propa- 
ganda of  Japan.  Even  Japan,  past  master  as  she  is  in 
the  art  of  deception,  cannot  “ fool  all  the  people  all  the 
time.” 

’ Philadelphia  Public  Ledger,  October  14,  1920. 


XVI 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  REFORMS 

PUBLICITY  is  a friend  of  the  oppressed  and  a 
powerful  enemy  of  tyranny.  Present-day  de- 
mocracies cannot  maintain  their  sane  balance 
without  its  aid.  It  came  to  the  assistance  of  Korea 
in  her  fight  for  freedom.  Had  it  not  been  for  pub- 
licity, Marshal  Hasegawa,  despite  all  his  crimes,  would 
still  be  the  supreme  ruler  of  Korea  to-day.  It  was 
publicity  that  compelled  Japan  to  acknowledge,  at  least, 
the  abuses  of  her  rule  in  Korea  and  make  even  the 
nominal  changes  that  she  did. 

When  the  report  of  the  massacres  in  Korea  began 
to  come  to  America  and  Europe,  Japan  was  placed  in 
an  embarrassing  position.  It  was  at  the  time  when  the 
Japanese  delegates  at  the  Peace  Conference  were 
championing  the  principle  of  racial  equality,  and  Japan 
was  assuming  the  role  of  the  chivalrous  knight  de- 
fending the  rights  of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed. 
Some  way  must  be  found  to  prevent  giving  publicity 
to  reports  that  had  escaped  the  blockade  of  the  Japa- 
nese censor — at  least,  the  West  must  not  know  about 
the  atrocities  until  the  Peace  Conference  was  over, 
when  Japan  would  have  obtained  what  she  wanted. 
She  made  desperate  attempts  to  suppress  the  news  of 
atrocities,  but  her  efforts  were  futile. 

The  Headquarters  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 

366 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  EEFORMS 


267 


New  York  issued  a stinging  report  on  the  Korean 
situation.  The  various  religious  organizations  in  Cali- 
fornia voiced  their  “ most  solemn  protest  against  the 
methods  of  administration,  so  abhorrent  to  all  sense 
of  justice,  so  subversive  of  the  very  ends  for  which 
America  and  her  Allies  waged  the  great  world  war.” 
The  San  Francisco  Presbytery  went  so  far  as  to  say  in 
its  resolution  of  protest,  “ We  earnestly  urge  our 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  imme- 
diately use  all  its  influence  with  the  Government  at 
Washington  to  bring  these  atrocities  to  a speedy  end.” 
The  religious  journals  in  the  country  were  equally 
vehement  in  denouncing  the  reign  of  terror  carried  on 
by  the  Japanese  Government  in  Korea.  Says  the 
Christian  Advocate  (New  York),  “America  cannot 
and  should  not  be  silent  when  brutality,  torture,  in- 
human treatment,  religious  persecution  and  massacre 
are  practised  upon  an  extensive  scale  by  any  nation. 
It  is  to  the  disgrace  of  Christendom  that  the  Turk  was 
so  long  allowed  to  terrorize  the  Bulgars  and  the  Ar- 
menians. It  is  to  the  honour  of  Christendom  that  it 
took  arms  against  the  Teuton  when  he  began  his  reign 
of  terror  over  the  Belgians.  It  is  the  duty  of  human- 
ity to  hold  the  Japanese  Government  to  account  for  the 
horrible  deeds  which  have  been  perpetrated  upon  the 
unresisting  Koreans.”  The  Philadelphia  Presbyterian 
pointedly  states,  “ The  groans  of  these  innocent  people 
have  ascended  to  Heaven,  and  it  is  time  that  Christian 
nations  entered  their  protest,  and  the  mission  boards, 
who  either  condone  this  violence  or  fail  to  protest 
against  it,  are  already  condemned.”  The  Christian 


268 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Herald  (New  York)  goes  further  than  any  of  its  con- 
temporaries and  advocates  Korean  freedom.  It  says: 
“ Though  still  but  a child  in  the  Gospel,  Korea  has 
suddenly  become  a spiritual  example  to  all  the  Oriental 
races  through  her  splendid  fidelity  to  the  faith. 
Christians  everywhere  will  hope  and  pray  that  she 
may  attain  full  freedom,  and  that  some  practical  way 
may  open  in  the  near  future  to  that  accomplishment.” 
Publications  other  than  religious  were  no  less  severe 
in  denouncing  the  Japanese  atrocities.  The  Literary 
Digest  of  May  31,  1919,  published  a scathing  letter 
written  by  a British  resident  of  Korea.  The  New 
York  Herald  of  June  16,  1919,  published  a series  of 
eye-witness  statements  made  by  American  residents  in 
Korea  on  the  situation,  under  the  caption  of  “ Chris- 
tians Persecuted  in  Korea  with  Hun  Ferocity.” 

Blank  denials  were  no  longer  possible.  In  order  to 
preserve  her  good  name  in  the  West,  it  was  necessary 
for  Japan  to  admit  her  wrongs  and  promise  to  do 
better.  This  was  brought  about  by  announcing  “ re- 
forms ” in  Korea.  An  Imperial  Rescript  was  issued 
in  Tokyo  on  August  19  and  was  given  to  the  Ameri- 
can press  by  the  Japanese  Embassy  at  Washington  on 
August  20.  It  promised  “ to  promote  the  security  and 
welfare  of  our  territory  of  Korea  and  to  extend  to  the 
native  population  of  that  territory,  as  our  beloved  sub- 
jects, fair  and  impartial  treatment,  in  all  respects  to 
the  end  that  they  may,  without  distinction  of  persons, 
lead  their  lives  in  peace  and  contentment.” 

The  rescript,  coupled  with  a statement  of  Premier 
Kara,  broadly  hinted  at  promise  of  local  self-govem- 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  REFOEMS 


269 


ment  for  Korea  and  reforms  looking  towards  home 
rule.  The  military  Government  should  be  succeeded 
by  a civil  one ; the  military  gendarmerie  was  to  be  re- 
placed by  a civilian  police  force  under  civilian  control ; 
a system  of  village  and  town  municipal  Government, 
based  on  popular  suffrage,  was  to  be  undertaken ; and 
the  Koreans  should  have  the  same  privileges  and  legal 
rights  as  the  Japanese,  who,  heretofore,  had  been  a 
privileged  class. 

The  new  administration  came  into  office  on  Septem- 
ber 1,  with  Admiral  Saito,  former  minister  of  the  navy, 
succeeding  General  Hasegawa,  as  the  Governor-Gen- 
eral, and  Midzuno  taking  the  place  of  Director-General 
Yamagata  of  Administration. 

Disinterested  friends  of  Korea  and  Japan  hoped 
that  many  liberal  reform  measures  would  be  introduced 
and  carried  into  effect  by  the  new  administration.  In 
the  light  of  the  Imperial  policy  of  Japan,  autonomy 
for  Korea,  far  less  independence,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected, unless  it  were  forced  out  of  Japan.  But  in 
, view  of  all  these  promises  given  in  official  statements 
and  the  Imperial  Rescript,  it  was  reasonable  for  fair- 
minded  Westerners  to  expect  the  Japanese  to  give  to 
the  Koreans  the  primary  political  and  civil  rights,  such 
as  allowing  the  study  of  Korean  language  in  schools ; 
granting  the  right  of  petition,  of  assemblage,  of  free 
speech,  of  free  press;  giving  equality  before  the  courts; 
enforcing  social  justice;  granting  political  amnesty; 
and  abolishing  all  forms  of  torture  in  the  examination 
of  prisoners. 

These  expectations,  reasonable  as  they  are,  were  met 


270 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


only  with  disappointment.  The  only  reforms  that  have 
been  introduced  are  the  changing  of  the  name  of  the 
“ military  ” administration  to  that  of  the  “ civil,”  and 
the  ” gendarmerie  ” to  “ police.”  Six  thousand  sol- 
diers and  four  hundred  gendarmes,  sent  to  Korea  in 
April,  1919,  to  carry  on  the  reign  of  terror — at  the 
very  time  when  Foreign  Minister  Uchida  and  Premier 
Kara  were  sending  cable  messages  to  America  assur- 
ing the  American  public  that  they  were  “ most  deeply 
concerned  in  regard  to  the  introduction  of  reforms  into 
the  Governmental  administration  of  Chosen  ” — still 
remain  in  Korea  to  do  their  patriotic  duty  of  killing 
Koreans.  In  addition  to  this,  according  to  a report 
sent  from  Seoul  on  January  12,  1920,  the  administra- 
tion has  increased  the  police  force  by  adding  196  offi- 
cers and  3,055  policemen  to  be  distributed  in  fourteen 
places,  including  Seoul,  Songdo  and  Fusan. 

As  yet,  there  is  no  security  of  life  or  property  in 
Korea,  and  martial  law  is  enforced  as  rigidly  as  ever. 
I cite  the  following  translation  of  two  official  orders, 
issued  by  the  Saito  Administration  on  September  29 
and  October  3,  1919,  after  the  “ reforms  ” were  in- 
troduced in  Korea: 

Eight  Year  of  Taisho,  September  29. 

Directions  Issued  as  Special  Instructions  to  the  Local 
Police  Chiefs: 

It  is  rumoured  that,  taking  advantage  of  the  autumn 
holidays — the  14th  and  15th  of  this  month,  according  to 
the  old  calendar — public  disturbances  will  reoccur.  For 
this  offense  no  mercy  will  be  shown  to  any  one ; but  such 
offenders  will  be  shot  on  the  spot.  As  a preparation 
against  such  happening  during  these  two  days  the  public 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  EEF0EM8 


271 


should  take  note  of  this  warning.  There  should  be  or- 
ganized at  once  units  composed  of  each  five  families,  with 
a supervisor  at  the  head  of  each  unit.  These  units  should 
have  in  charge  the  prevention  of  all  drinking,  and  there 
should  be  no  country  music  permitted  as  was  formerly 
the  custom.  All  these  matters  are  entrusted  to  the  chiefs 
of  the  local  police. 

Eight  Year  of  Taisho,  October  3. 

Direction  and  Warning  Concerning  Prevention  of  Dis- 
order: When  the  authorities  carefully  inspected  reports 
concerning  the  formation  of  the  five  family  units,  above 
shown,  according  to  the  directions  issued  a few  days 
ago  for  the  special  consideration  of  the  local  police 
chiefs,  it  has  been  found  that  no  reports  have  been  re- 
ceived from  outside  of  Kem  Sung  Ni.  The  people  there 
must  be  drunk  or  dreaming,  at  a moment  so  dangerous 
as  this.  The  authorities  realize  the  necessity  of  check- 
ing the  disturbing  elements  and  protecting  the  loyal  citi- 
zens. For  these  reasons,  we  hereby  issue  another  mes- 
sage in  order  to  warn  the  public.  There  should  be  neither 
music,  “ moon  gazing,”  wrestling,  nor  sham  battles ; nor 
should  there  be  any  drinking  parties  either  on  mountain 
or  plain,  lest  some  who  entertain  “ secret  thoughts  ” may 
shout  Mansei  by  the  hundreds  in  response  to  one  cry 
at  the  height  of  mental  disorder  under  the  influence  of 
intoxication,  and  lest  some  other  improper  behaviour  may 
occur.  In  cases  as  described  above,  shooting  will  be  em- 
ployed as  the  chief  means  of  prevention  according  to  the 
“ Public  Safety  Ordinance  ” just  revised  by  the  authori- 
ties. 

Formerly  the  soldiers  and  gendarmes  shot  people 
who  shouted  for  independence  for  Korea,  under  the 
oral  instruction  of  the  authorities,  but  now  they  have 
written  orders,  which  is  an  improvement. 


272 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


The  judicial  system,  under  the  new  Administration, 
seems  to  have  gone  through  the  same  kind  of  improve- 
ment. It  is  remarkable  for  its  simplicity.  At  the  trial 
of  political  prisoners  arrested  since  March  1,  1919,  all 
legal  procedure  was  suspended.  The  only  question 
that  was  put  to  the  prisoner  was,  “ Will  you  do  it 
(shouting  independence  for  Korea)  again?”  If  the 
prisoner  answered  in  the  negative,  he’  was  released. 
If  he  said  he  would,  he  was  put  back  into  prison  and 
tortured  until  his  spirit  was  completely  crushed.  A 
girl  student  from  Yern  Dong  Academy  (American 
Presbyterian  College  for  Girls),  Seoul,  said  to  the 
judge,  “ I would  do  it  again  the  first  chance  I got.” 
She  was  promptly  dragged  back  into  the  prison  cell. 

The  barbarous  method  of  prison  tortures  and  flog- 
ging still  exist  under  the  “ reformed  ” system.  On 
October  30,  a day  before  the  Japanese  Emperor’s  birth- 
day, a prisoner  was  released  without  trial.  The  police 
pulled  out  four  of  his  toe  nails  within  two  weeks  of 
his  release  as  a gentle  warning  that  he  must  not  enter- 
tain “ dangerous  thoughts.”  A girl  prisoner  was  re- 
leased without  trial  after  seven  months  of  imprison- 
ment, during  which  she  underwent  four  periods  of 
torture.  Once  she  was  tortured  for  six  successive 
hours.  Twisting  her  legs  until  the  excruciating  pain 
made  her  insensible,  searing  her  tender  parts  with  a 
red-hot  iron,  stripping  and  kicking  were  some  of  the 
tortures  that  were  administered  to  her  by  the  “ polite  ’/ 
Japanese  police — all  with  the  knowledge  and  sanction 
of  the  “ reformed  ” Government. 

As  late  as  October,  1920,  over  a year  since  the  in- 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  REFOEMS  273 

troduction  of  “ reforms  ” in  Korea,  a missionary 
wrote : 

Lately  a number  of  Koreans  were  arrested  and  treated 
with  the  same  old  methods.  How  do  I know  ? The  for- 
eign physician  was  called  to  the  police  station  to  revive 
our  young  Korean  doctor  who  was  nearly  killed  by  the 
torture.  The  worst  of  it  was  that  the  man  was  found 
innocent  and  released  after  this  “ examination.” 

Recently,  a pastor,  four  elders  and  some  other  church 
officers,  were  on  their  way  to  an  Officers’  Class.  At  the 
church,  where  they  were  stopping  over  Sunday,  one  of 
the  elders,  in  preaching,  spoke  of  the  Korean  nation  as 
a “ suffering  people.”  The  next  day  the  whole  congrega- 
tion were  arrested,  taken  to  the  country  jail,  kept  there 
three  days  and  then  each  one  flogged  to  impress  it  upon 
them  they  were  not  a suffering  people.  The  church  at 
which  I now  am  is  close  to  the  police  station.  The  police 
came  and  ordered  the  Christians  not  to  ring  the  bell  nor 
sing  because  it  disturbed  them.  The  Christians  report 
that  all  the  prisoners  are  badly  beaten  in  their  preliminary 
examinations,  and  that  one  man,  a non-Christian,  from 
Manchuria,  was  beaten  to  death  recently.’ 

Referring  to  the  above  letter  published  in  the  Japan 
Advertiser,  the  Seoul  Press  said  editorially: 

We  venture  to  say  that  he  is  but  a morbid  antagonist 
of  the  Japanese  Regime  in  Chosen;  that  he  is  forcibly 
prejudiced  against  anything  Japanese,  whether  good  or 
bad,  and  unfortunately,  like  a few  others,  he  belongs  to 
a gang  of  foreign  agitators  of  the  anti-Japanese  move- 
ment in  Korea.’ 

’A  letter  published  in  the  Japan  Advertiser,  October  14,  1920. 

* Editorial,  “ Missionary  Meddling  in  Politics,”  Seoul  Press, 
October  20,  1920. 


274 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Evidently,  the  “ reforms  ” have  not  touched  the 
“ official  conscience  ” of  Mr.  Yamagata,  the  editor  of 
the  Press;  thus  he  still  speaks  “ officially.” 

Freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  has  been  prom- 
ised by  the  Japanese  Government  under  the  ” re- 
formed ” administration.  But,  thus  far,  it  is  merely 
an  empty  promise,  made  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it 
out  to  the  Western  press.  Whatever  freedom  was 
given  to  the  Koreans  was  given  with  one  hand  and 
taken  away  with  the  other.  The  Great  Korean  Na- 
tional Association,  organized  by  the  Christians  in 
northern  Korea,  with  its  headquarters  at  Pyeng  Yang, 
under  the  promise  of  “ freedom  of  speech  ” of  the  Civil 
Administration,  was  dissolved  by  the  authorities  on  the 
ground  of  its  “ anti-Japanese  attitude,”  and  most  of 
its  members  were  arrested.’ 

In  the  spring  of  1920,  Tokyo  announced  with  con- 
siderable flourish  that  three  Korean  newspapers  would 
be  permitted  to  issue.  It  was  announced  that  one 
would  even  be  edited  by  a leading  Korean  nationalist. 
The  three  papers  actually  made  their  appearance.  But 
of  the  three,  two  are  edited  by  Korean  hirelings  of  the 
Japanese  Government,  and  their  columns  contain  un- 
disguised Japanese  propaganda  intended  to  break  down 
the  morale  of  the  Korean  advocates  of  independence. 
The  third,  the  Korean  Daily , News,  was  edited  by  a 
Korean  nationalist.  But  while  the  other  two  have 
been  unmolested  by  the  authorities,  the  Korean  Daily 
News  has  been  suppressed’  more  than  twenty-three 
times  during  six  months,  all  the  issues  being  confis- 
* St,  Louis  Globe  Democrat,  November  7,  1920. 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  REFOEMS 


276 


cated.  Finally,  the  paper  was  closed  down  in  Septem- 
ber, 1920,  and  its  editor  is  in  prison  at  the  present  time/ 

Even  religious  weeklies,  published  by  missionaries, 
suffer  the  same  persecution  under  the  Civil  Adminis- 
tration of  Admiral  Saito  as  they  did  under  the  Military 
Administration  of  General  Hasegawa.  Thus,  the 
Christian  Messenger,  published  by  the  Christian  Lit- 
erature Society  of  Korea,  which  had  been  permitted  by 
General  Hasegawa,  was  confiscated  on  September  3, 
and  its  issues  were  destroyed  by  the  police.  Gerald 
Bonwick,  its  publisher,  in  a letter  addressed  to  the 
editor  of  the  Seoul  Press,  September  14,  1920,  says: 
“We  have  no  desire  to  offend  purposely,  we  have  no 
political  axe  to  grind ; our  purpose  is  to  give  news  and 
information  together  with  comment  in  a fair  and 
straightforward  manner,  and  if  by  accident  something 
creeps  in  that  is  not  quite  pleasing  to  the  powers  that 
be,  it  would  be  better  policy  to  ignore  it,  rather  than  to 
confiscate  the  edition.” 

Maltreatment  of  women  has  not  been  abolished. 
One  hundred  and  six  women  were  “ rounded  up  ” 
during  the  first  part  of  November,  1920,  for  no  other 
crime  than  that  they  were  members  of  the  Korean 
Women’s  Patriotic  League.’  Needless  to  say  that 
they  were  put  through  the  usual  Japanese  tortures  in 
prisons. 

Massacres  still  continue.  On  October  30,  1920, 
Japanese  infantry  surrounded  the  town  of  Lungpin- 
Tsun  near  Chang  Yen  district,  and  shot  twenty  Ko- 

’New  York  Tribune,  October  24,  1920. 

^ Los  Angeles  Times,  November  7,  1920. 


276 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


reans  who  were  suspected  of  being  “ rebels.”  Then 
the  soldiers  put  to  torch  the  Christian  mission  and  the 
schoolhouse  of  the  town.* 

Korean  communities  in  Manchuria  are  singled  out 
for  destruction.  Dr.  S.  H.  Martin,  a Canadian  Pres- 
byterian missionary  at  Yong  Jung,  South  Manchuria, 
sent  a signed  statement  to  the  Associated  Press,  in 
which  he  described  the  Japanese  infantry  as  burning 
villages,  setting  fire  to  the  crops  and  massacring  the 
inhabitants.  He  named  thirty-two  villages  in  which 
massacres  occurred.  In  one  village  148  persons  were 
killed.  Says  Dr.  Martin:  “The  Japanese  sent  15,000 
troops  into  this  part  of  China,  with  the  seeming  inten- 
tion of  wiping  out  the  entire  Christian  community, 
especially  young  men.  Villages  were  methodically 
burned  daily,  and  the  inhabitants  in  them  shot.  Yong 
Jung  is  surrounded  by  a ring  of  villages,  which  suf- 
fered from  fire  and  wholesale  murder.”  * 

The  Rev.  W.  R.  Foote  and  a number  of  prominent 
Canadian  missionaries  made  representations  to  the 
Japanese  Consul  at  Mukden  in  regard  to  the  Japanese 
soldiers  “ butchering  innocent  Koreans,  including 
many  Christians,  without  trial.”  * 

Colonel  Mizumachi,  the  head  of  the  Japanese  Mili- 
tary Commission  in  Manchuria,  made  a sensational 
reply,  in  which  he  charged  the  missionaries  as  inter- 
fering with  the  political  affairs  of  the  Japanese  Em- 
pire, and  denied  that  any  Korean  was  executed  without 

* Associated  Press  cable  from  Tokyo,  November  Q,  192a 

* Washington  Post,  November  ^o,  1920. 

^ Des  Moines  Register,  November  27,  1920. 


JAPA^T’S  ALLEGED  BEFOEMS 


277 


inquiry  or  trial.  He  poignantly  concludes:  “ The  suc- 
cess or  failure  of  your  propaganda,  in  and  out  of 
Korea,  depends  solely  on  your  willingness  to  cooperate 
with  the  Japanese  Government.”  ‘ 

In  a long  editorial  on  Japanese  massacres  of  Korean 
inhabitants  in  Manchuria,  the  Japan  Advertiser 
(Tokyo)  says  in  part; 

We  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that  the  missionaries’ 
facts  substantially  are  correct.  These  signed  reports,  it 
must  be  remembered,  corroborate  a great  many  others 
to  the  same  effect. 

Their  narratives  are  a flat  contradiction  of  the  sugges- 
tion that  an  inquiry  of  any  sort  took  place  before  the  kill- 
ing. If  the  proceedings  at  Noreabawie  are  reported  cor- 
rectly, there  was  a discrimination  beyond  what  was  im- 
plied, in  fact  only  able-bodied  men  were  killed. 

If,  when  burning  a village  is  punishment,  you  give  or- 
ders to  shoot  all  able-bodied  males,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
plea  that  no  executions  take  place  without  inquiry  or  trial, 
is  worthless.  The  word  execution  cannot  possibly  be 
used  when  there  is  no  pretense  of  accusation  or  trial. 

What  opinion  can  be  formed  in  other  countries,  except 
that  this  is  a campaign  of  frightfulness,  in  which  murder 
and  massacre  are  deliberately  employed  ? ' 

The  local  self-government,  promised  by  the  Imperial 
Rescript  and  official  announcement  of  Premier  Hara, 
is  being  carried  out  in  some  districts  in  Korea,  not  as 
a measure  of  giving  self-government  to  the  Koreans, 

’Press  dispatch  via  Japanese  military  telegraph  to  Seoul,  thence 
to  Tokyo  and  to  America,  November  30,  1920. 

’ Quoted  by  Frederick  Smith,  Far  Eastern  correspondent  of  the 
Chicago  T ribune,  in  a dispatch  to  his  paper,  December  4,  1920. 


278 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


but  as  a part  of  the  Japanese  espionage  system.  Ko- 
reans were  allowed  to  meet  together  for  the  discussion 
of  their  local  affairs,  presided  over  by  Japanese.  If  a 
Korean  shows  any  signs  of  anti-Japanese  spirit,  he  is 
rushed  off  to  prison.  In  each  community,  the  leader 
of  the  meeting  must  report  to  the  police  every  man  who 
entertains  “ dangerous  thoughts.”  A leader,  who  fails 
to  make  the  report,  if  found  out,  is  given  proper  pun- 
ishment— usually  confinement  without  trial  coupled 
with  flogging.  Thus,  the  “ self-governing  ” measure 
of  Japanese  rule  in  Korea  is  another  means  of  weeding 
out  Koreans  who  show  any  spirit  of  freedom. 

All  this  myth  of  Japanese  “ reforms  ” in  Korea  is 
not  at  all  surprising  to  the  Korean.  By  his  sad  ex- 
periences in  the  past,  the  Korean  has  learned  that  he 
cannot  believe  Japanese  on  oath.  In  1895,  when  the 
Korean  Queen  was  murdered  by  the  Japanese  Minis- 
ter, Count  Miura,  under  the  instruction  of  his  Govern- 
ment, the  West  was  horrified.  In  order  to  save  the 
face  of  Japan,  Count  Miura  was  removed  from  his 
post,  and  Marquis  Ito,  then  the  Premier  of  Japan,  de- 
clared that  he  would  see  to  it  that  the  culprits  would 
be  punished.  The  Japanese  court  at  Hiroshima  found 
that  “ about  dawn  the  whole  party  (Japanese  assas- 
sins) entered  the  palace  through  the  Kwang-hwa  gate, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  the  inner  chambers.  Not- 
withstanding these  facts,  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence 
to  prove  that  any  of  the  accused  actually  committed  the 
crime  originally  meditated  by  them.”  * Thus  the  case 
was  dismissed.  And  Count  Miura  and  his  fellow-as- 
* Appendix  I. 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  EEFOEMS 


279 


sassins  were  heralded  throughout  the  Japanese  Empire 
as  national  heroes. 

The  same  thing  is  taking  place  now.  Japanese  can 
no  longer  deny  the  wanton  massacres  carried  on  by 
their  soldiers  under  the  instruction  of  Hasegawa  and 
Yamagata,  the  two  chief  culprits  in  the  Korean  crime. 
So  the  two  men  resigned  from  their  posts  in  Korea  to 
save  the  face  of  Japan.  They  should  have  been  tried 
and  punished  according  to  their  crimes.  Instead, 
Premier  Hara  says  in  commenting  on  the  resignation 
of  these  two  men:  “ I regret  to  announce  the  resigna- 
tion of  Marshal  Hasegawa,  Governor-General,  and 
Mr.  Yamagata,  Director-General  of  Administration, 
both  of  whom  have  rendered  eminent  service  to  the 
State  at  the  important  posts  which  they  have  occupied 
for  several  years.”  ^ 

In  case  of  gendarmes  and  soldiers,  who  did  the  ac- 
tual killing,  they  not  only  still  remain  in  Korea  to  carry 
on  their  rule  of  terror  under  a different  name,  but  they 
have  been  awarded  honoraria  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment of  150  yen  to  400  yen  according  to  rank  and 
service  rendered  to  the  cause  of  Greater  Japan  by  their 
heroism  in  killing  defenseless  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren. 

It  is  said  by  those  who  have  interviewed  Baron  Saito 
that  the  new  Governor-General  is  sincere  in  his  desire 
to  better  conditions  in  Korea,  although  he  has  not  as 
yet  given  any  signs  of  his  good  intentions.  Even  if 
he  has  good  intentions,  he  can  do  nothing  unless  given 

’ Premier  Hara’s  official  announcement  given  to  the  press  by 
the  Japanese  Embassy  at  Washington,  August  20,  1919. 


280 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


a free  hand  from  above  and  cooperation  from  below. 
He  has  neither  at  present.  When  the  Tokyo  Govern- 
ment appointed  him  the  civil  Governor  of  Korea,  they 
withdrew  him  from  retirement  and  put  him  on  the 
active  list  of  the  navy.  This,  in  effect,  makes  the  civil 
administration  of  Korea  a part  of  the  Japanese  mili- 
tary regime  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  and  the  civil 
Governor  is  under  the  thumbscrew  of  Japanese  milita- 
rists. Baron  Saito  has  no  alternative  but  to  continue 
the  Japanese  policy  of  assimilation  or  annihilation 
forced  upon  the  Koreans  by  his  predecessors,  Terauchi 
and  Hasegawa,  under  the  instruction  of  official  Tokyo. 

The  second  obstacle  standing  in  the  path  of  Baron 
Saito  is  the  system  of  Japanese  colonial  bureaucracy 
that  has  existed  in  Korea  ever  since  the  annexation. 
However  good  the  Governor-General’s  intentions  may 
be  to  better  conditions  in  Korea,  no  change  of  any  kind 
can  be  brought  about  without  a complete  sweep-out  of 
the  present  officials,  from  highest  to  lowest.  It  is  be- 
yond question  that  these  officials  will  never  be  any 
better  than  they  have  been,  even  under  orders.  Al- 
ready it  is  evident  that  some  of  the  good  orders  that 
have  been  issued  by  Baron  Saito  have  been  quietly 
pigeonholed  by  the  men  lower  down.  A Japanese  of- 
ficer in  Korea,  no  matter  how  humble  his  station  may 
be,  is  an  autocrat  in  his  sphere.  He  has  little  knowledge 
of  administration  and  cares  less.  He  believes  in  his 
superiority  and  struts  along  with  rattling  sabre,  bully- 
ing and  robbing,  on  the  slightest  pretext,  every  Korean 
who  crosses  his  path.  A grain  of  common  sense  or  a 
knowledge  of  human  nature  is  an  unknown  quantity 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  EEFOEMS 


281 


among  the  Japanese  officialdom  in  Korea.  If  Baron 
Saito  attempts  genuine  reforms  in  Korea,  depending 
on  the  support  of  these  officials,  one  may  waste  a little 
pity  on  him. 

Above  and  beneath  all  the  high-sounding  official 
declarations  and  beautiful  promises  of  reforms,  what 
are  the  facts  and  where  are  the  reforms?  They  are 
the  proof  of  Japanese  pudding  of  Civil  Administration 
in  Korea.  I quote  the  following  from  an  American 
eye-witness  which  gives  a vivid  picture  of  Japan’s  al- 
leged reforms  in  Korea: 

What  are  the  facts?  To  the  impartial  observer  it  is 
difficult  to  see  wherein  the  outlook  of  the  officialdom  as 
a whole  is  changed.  Tortures,  as  I have  said  before, 
have  not  ceased.  The  Japanese  deny  this,  but  the  evi- 
dence is  there  for  whoever  seeks  it.  Every  day  innocent 
men  are  being  arrested,  in  Seoul,  in  Taiku,  in  Shen  Chen, 
in  Pyeng  Yang,  in  Chemulpo,  in  scores  of  other  cities; 
every  day  they  are  being  arrested  on  the  vaguest  sus- 
picion, tortured  to  make  them  “ confess,”  held  for  several 
days  or  weeks  and  then,  if  nothing  is  found  against  them, 
released  without  explanation  or  apology — just  turned  out. 
There  is  no  denying  this.  I have  talked  to  a score  of  such 
men  myself.  I sat  in  my  room  in  one  city  and  had  them 
come  to  me  one  at  a time  and  tell  me  their  stories.  Bet- 
ter yet,  I have  seen  the  marks  on  their  bodies,  the 
wrenched  arms,  the  tom  flesh  where  ropes  had  been 
bound  tight,  the  rotted  flesh  where  they  had  been  flogged 
ninety  strokes  with  three  bamboo  rods  tied  together  with 
rough  cord.  Word  of  mouth  may  be  deceptive,  those 
marks  are  not;  they  are  not  self-inflicted  just  for  the 
purpose  of  deceiving  one  newspaperman. 

Thousands  of  youths,  both  boys  and  girls,  are  still  in 
prison  in  the  freezing  cold  of  Korea  for  having  done  no 


282 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


more  than  shout  Mansei.  There  is  no  word  of  amnesty, 
no  hint  of  mitigation  of  sentences ; instead,  there  is  mis- 
treatment in  foul  prisons. 

In  one  city  a girls’  society  made  a large  number  of 
straw  shoes  which  it  asked  permission  to  send  to  the 
women  in  one  prison.  Permission  was  refused.  The 
women  are  still  walking  the  icy  stone  prison  floors  in 
their  hare  feet  night  and  day. 

Detectives  and  spies  are  paid  so  much  per  person  for 
arrests,  irrespective  of  guilt  or  innocence.  And  it  is 
openly  charged  that  the  procedure  of  the  Conspiracy  Case 
is  being  repeated.  On  the  pretext  of  political  charges 
men  are  being  put  into  prison  whom  it  is  wanted  to  get 
out  of  the  way  for  other  reasons ; leaders  in  business  and 
possible  competitors,  scholars,  Christian  pastors.  These 
men  may  or  may  not  have  any  connection  with  the  inde- 
pendence movement;  the  object  is  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  a Korean  leadership  even  for  non-political  purposes.’ 

The  Japanese  rule  in  Korea,  ever  since  the  annexa- 
tion, has  been  a continual  series  of  deceits,  intimida- 
tions, cajoleries,  oppressions  and  treacheries.  The 
Korean  well  understands  the  nature  of  the  Japanese, 
and  therefore,  he  does  not  expect  any  reforms.  It  has 
been  the  history  of  Japanese  domination  in  Korea  that 
whenever  there  was  any  criticism  in  the  West  of  their 
misrule,  the  criticism  was  met  by  announcement  of 
reforms.  There  were  to  be  reforms  in  1905  after  the 
protectorate  was  established;  reforms  in  1907  when 
Prince  Ito  took  over  the  administration;  reforms  in 
1910  when  the  country  was  formally  annexed ; reforms 
after  the  infamous  Conspiracy  trials  of  1912-13.  Now 

* Nathaniel  Peffer,  “A  Japanese  Idea  of  Reform,”  China  Press, 
December  i6,  1919. 


JAPAN’S  ALLEGED  EEFOEMS 


283 


once  again  there  are  to  be  reforms.  Calculating  and 
relentless,  the  ruling  caste  of  Japan  will  not  introduce 
any  genuine  reforms  in  Korea  unless  they  are  forced 
to  do  so,  either  by  foreign  pressure  or  internal  revo- 
lution. At  present,  there  are  signs  of  neither.  What 
little  liberalism  in  Japan  we  hear  of  in  America  is 
manufactured  for  export  purposes,  especially  to 
America,  not  for  home  consumption.  Indeed,  Senator 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge  hit  the  bull’s  eye  of  the  promises 
of  Japanese  statesmen  when  he  said  in  his  speech  on 
the  Shantung  question  in  the  Senate : “ Whatever 
promises  she  (Japan)  has  made  were  all  marked  by 
one  vital  omission — time.”  Premier  Hara  said  that 
the  reforms  in  Korea  will  be  initiated  “ eventually  ” 
and  will  be  carried  into  effect  “ when  time  is  considered 
opportune.”  This  loose  phrase  is  capable  of  many  in- 
terpretations according  to  the  wishes  and  conveniences 
of  the  Japanese  Government.  Baron  Saito,  the  Civil 
Governor  of  Korea,  reflected  the  opinion  of  the  Pre- 
mier when  he  said  in  his  report  on  the  Korean  situa- 
tion to  the  Japanese  Diet  on  February  23,  1921,  nearly 
two  years  after  the  reforms  and  Civil  Administration 
went  into  effect,  that  the  “ extension  of  the  Japanese 
electoral  law  to  Korea  must  await  the  time  when  the 
people  of  that  country  are  capable  of  exercising  the 
duties  of  citizenship.”  ’ 

Bishop  Warren  A.  Candler,  President  Emeritus  of 
Emory  College,  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  best  in- 
formed on  the  oft-repeated  reform  announcements  in 
the  Japanese  Government  in  Korea,  when  he  says  in 
* New  York  Times,  February  25,  1921. 


284 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


an  article,  “ The  Hun  of  the  Orient  in  the  Belgium  of 
the  East.” 

The  recent  proclamation  of  Japan,  in  which  the  mis- 
deeds of  the  militarists  in  Korea  are  confessed  and  a 
better  order  of  things  under  civilians  is  promised,  should 
deceive  no  intelligent  and  informed  man.  The  change 
of  men  will  have  no  effect  to  change  measures.  Japan's 
promises  with  reference  to  Korea  have  never  been  kept. 
Her  treaty,  guaranteeing  the  independence  of  Korea,  was 
shamelessly  broken  in  less  than  three  years  after  it  was 
signed.  Germany  did  not  prove  faithless  to  Belgium  so 
quickly,  nor  so  disgracefully.  Japan  cannot  be  trusted  to 
treat  Korea  with  justice  and  humanity. 

In  1906  I visited  both  Japan  and  Korea,  and  there  I 
saw  such  oppression  of  Koreans  by  the  Japanese  that  the 
atrocities  perpetrated  during  the  present  year  do  not  sur- 
prise me.^ 

The  Korean,  on  the  other  hand,  will  not  be  satisfied 
even  if  genuine  reforms  are  introduced  in  Korea.  His 
cry  is  complete  independence.  He  has  been  aroused 
from  his  long  sleep  by  the  sound  of  clashing  arms,  the 
cry  of  a murdered  queen,  the  tramp  of  armed  men. 
He  is  proud  of  the  accomplishments  of  his  forefathers, 
and  is  willing  to  make  himself  a worthy  heir  of  his 
past  glory.  He  sees  the  privileges  of  political  inde- 
pendence and  is  ready  to  shoulder  the  responsibilities 
accompanying  it.  Besides  this  spirit  of  national  con- 
sciousness for  freedom,  the  Korean  entertains  bitter 
hatred  towards  the  Japanese,  and  feels  that  the  less 
he  has  to  do  with  his  Island  neighbour,  the  better  off 
he  will  be. 

* The  Atlanta  Journal,  September  7,  1919. 


XVII 


KOREAN  AND  JAPANESE  CHARACTERS 
CONTRASTED 

“ y ^ OREA  at  the  present  time  would  be  a fertile 
field  for  another  Bryce  investigating  com- 
^ mission,”  writes  a close  observer  of  the  trend 
of  events  in  that  far-off  land.  But  Korea  presents 
more  than  a land  of  tragedy ; it  is  a scene  of  constantly 
changing  drama  of  sublime  pathos  and  inspiring  hero- 
ism. The  inter-play  of  the  innermost  human  passions 
and  subtle  racial  psychology,  which  forms  the  back- 
ground of  the  play,  is  never  lost  to  view.  Aside  from 
the  question  of  forced  assimilation,  which  is  an  inter- 
esting study  in  itself,  the  fundamental  difference  be- 
tween the  Koreans  and  the  Japanese,  and  how  each 
people  look  at  the  same  problem  from  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent point  of  view,  is  a study  well  worth  research. 

The  Koreans  always  worshipped  Hananim,  a name 
that  conveys  the  idea  of  one  Supreme  Ruler  over  the 
universe.  This  monotheism  in  Korea  is,  undoubtedly, 
one  of  the  reasons  for  the  amazing , success  of  the 
Christian  missionary  among  the  Korean  people.  To 
the  Korean,  moral  courage,  rather  than  physical  cour- 
age, is  by  far  the  superior  type,  and  unity  of  mind  and 
consciousness  of  one’s  duty  to  a great  cause  is  power. 

28s 


286 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Once  a girl  “ rebel  ” was  asked  by  the  judge  in  a trial 
court,  “ What  is  independence  ? ” “ Independence  ? ” 

said  the  girl,  and  her  eyes  looked  beyond  the  stuffy 
court,  “ what  is  independence  ? Ah ! independence  is 
a happy  thought ! ” This  spiritual  understanding  of 
one’s  consecration  to  a great  cause  enabled  the  Korean 
boys  and  girls,  to  say  nothing  of  the  grown-ups,  to 
meet  the  police  and  soldiers  with  the  cry:  “ You  may 
kill  my  body,  but  you  will  never  kill  the  spirit  that 
makes  me  shout  Mansei.” 

Mrs.  Robertson  Scott,  an  English  novelist,  who  was 
in  Korea  during  the  Independence  Movement  of  1919, 
in  her  analysis  of  the  “ warring  mentalities  ” in  Korea, 
records  the  following  incident  as  a typical  trend  of  the 
Korean  mind: 

A clergyman  in  Seoul — such  a young  man  as  may  be 
met  any  day  at  a Cambridge  tea-party — said  with  deep 
conviction,  “ The  Koreans  are  so  brave  that  the  Japanese 
do  not  understand  it.  The  Koreans,  I believe,  are  the 
only  people  on  earth  who  are  really  ‘ meek  ’ in  the  scrip- 
tural sense.  The  Japanese  think  their  meekness  is 
cowardice,  whereas  it  is  moral  strength.”  * 

To  the  Japanese  the  only  power  is  material  might, 
which  has  one  embodiment — the  army  and  navy. 
Such  a thing  as  noblesse  oblige  in  governing  a weaker 
people  is  unknown  among  Japanese  officials,  both  civil 
and  military.  In  its  place,  they  have  false  dignity  and 
self-conceit,  which  is  always  coupled  with  a tendency 

’ “ Warring  Mentalities  in  the  Far  East,”  by  Mrs.  Robertson 
Scott,  Asia,  August,  1920,  pp.  693-701. 


CHARACTERS  CONTRASTED 


287 


to  be  cringing  before  the  strong  and  overbearing 
towards  the  weak.  Hence,  they  show  their  smirk  and 
smile  to  the  Westerners,  but  to  those  weaker  than  they 
in  the  East,  their  fiendish  nature  of  calculating  treach- 
ery and  relentless  brutality  is  revealed.  Professor 
Inazo  Nitobe,  the  eloquent  interpreter  of  the  Japanese 
Bushido  to  the  Western  world,  says  with  regard  to 
Korea:  “ I do  believe  it  is  the  right  of  every  people  to 
do  as  they  will,  regardless  of  consequences  to  their 
neighbours.”  ‘ Professor  Nitobe  must  have  two  sets 
of  interpretations  of  the  Bushido — the  beautiful,  self- 
denying  and  chivalrous  interpretation  for  the  West, 
and  the  interpretation  based  on  the  doctrine  that  might 
makes  right  for  the  East. 

It  is  Japanese  political  philosophy  that  individual 
citizens  exist  for  the  sake  of  the  State,  and  not  the 
State  for  the  welfare  of  its  citizens.  Hence,  morality, 
conscience,  humanity,  frank  statement — everything  is 
sacrificed  for  the  cause  of  Greater  Japan.  In  the  most 
cruel  periods  of  Japanese  tyranny  of  Korea,  and  dur- 
ing the  worst  of  the  reign  of  terror,  March  and  April, 

1919,  there  was  not  a single  Japanese  citizen  or  civilian 
official  to  protest,  much  less  to  criticize,  to  their  Gov- 
ernment with  a view  of  stopping  the  atrocities.  When 
foreigners  began  to  protest  in  the  name  of  humanity, 
then  a number  of  citizens  and  civil  officials,  as  a face- 
saving device,  start  to  criticize  the  military  officials  for 
their  “ harshness,”  thus  using  the  soldiers  and  police  as 
the  scapegoat. 

* From  an  article  by  Inazo  Nitobe  in  Japan  Magazine,  April, 

1920. 


288 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


All  through  the  fires  of  political  persecution  during 
the  Independence  Movement,  the  fundamental  differ- 
ence between  the  Korean  and  Japanese  characters  were 
brought  out  in  bold  relief.  The  Japanese  looked  upon 
the  Koreans  as  possessing  no  power.  The  Korean,  in 
his  turn,  not  only  hated,  but  despised,  the  Japanese. 
The  Japanese  thought  they  could  stamp  out  the  fires 
of  Korean  patriotism  with  their  iron  heel,  whereas 
they  only  fanned  the  smouldering  flame  with  their 
schrecklichkeit.  The  action  and  reaction  of  the  two 
different  mentalities,  Korean  and  Japanese,  on  the 
same  question,  is  a fascinating  study,  even  though 
connected  with  grim  tragedy. 

Of  the  wide  survey  that  I have  made  of  current 
literature  and  the  mass  of  unpublished  manuscripts  on 
the  topic,  I find  none  that  presents  with  greater  force 
and  precision  the  contrast  between  the  Korean  and 
Japanese  mentalities  and  their  respective  views  on  the 
Korean  situation  than  the  two  anonymous  articles 
which  I subjoin.  One  on  “ The  Korean’s  Courage  ” 
is  from  an  unpublished  manuscript,  and  the  other  on 
“ Japan’s  Problem  ” appeared  in  the  Japan  Advertiser, 
July  11, 1919,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  “ Spectator.” 
The  author  of  these  two  articles  is  a Britisher,  who  has 
resided  in  the  Orient  for  over  thirty  years,  and  who  is 
a profound  scholar  of  Oriental  history  and  politics. 

The  Korean’s  Courage 

It  was  thought  by  those  who  knew  the  Korean  best 
that  he  was  a man  lacking  courage.  He  possessed  a 
kind  of  frenzy,  under  high  pressure,  that  would  go  to 


CHAEACTEES  CONTEASTED 


289 


the  bitter  end.  But  for  cool  courage  that  could  smile 
down  any  menace  that  might  threaten,  he  has  never  been 
given  the  credit.  In  these  days  of  his  new  birth  as  a na- 
tion, however,  he  has  displayed  characteristics  that  have 
caused  the  onlooking  foreigners  to  stand  in  wonder.  He 
may  be  a timid  man  before  small  dangers,  like  Queen 
Elizabeth,  who,  though  ready  to  climb  onto  the  table  at 
the  sight  of  a mouse  in  the  room,  could  say,  with  the 
Armada  sailing  up  the  Channel,  “ I have  only  the  body 
of  a weak,  feeble  woman,  but  I have  the  heart  and 
stomach  of  a king ; and  of  a king  of  England,  too.”  This 
heart  and  stomach  is  Korea’s,  for,  during  these  last  two 
memorable  months,  not  a fear  has  been  hers.  Quiet,  cool, 
calculated  courage  has  she  shown,  much  as  any  admiral 
moving  into  action  might  well  be  eager  for. 

Korea  has  learned  through  the  years  gone  by  that  the 
machine  that  benevolently  governs  her  is  of  the  order  of 
the  Hun.  It  makes  laws ; it  fixes  and  regulates  everything 
under  the  sun,  almost  to  a man’s  breath,  verboten  this 
and  verboten  that ; it  keeps  tab  on  your  every  motion ; it 
has  spies  and  police  and  gendarmes  and  soldiers  at  its 
beck  and  call.  Rats  listen  back  of  the  wall  at  night  and 
birds  catch  your  thoughts  during  the  day  and  convey 
them  to  the  chief  of  police  or  gendarmerie.  Your  house 
is  searched  at  any  hour  by  barbarians,  who  walk  over  the 
inner  mats  with  their  boots  on,  and  then  wash  their  dirty 
hands  in  your  drinking  water  at  the  door.  If  you  get  in 
their  way,  they  drive  their  scabbard  into  your  stomach 
or  promptly  give  you  the  gun-butt  back  of  the  ear  in  a 
way  to  make  you  see  stars.  They  wear  hobnails  ready  to 
kick  or  trample  any  man,  woman,  or  child,  who  falls  foul 
of  them.  They  have  back  of  them  an  inferno  little  better 
than  Tartarus,  fitted  with  prison  bars  and  torture  cham- 
bers that  might  well  daunt  the  stoutest  patriot.  Korea 
knows  this.  She  has  not  lived  ten  years  without  sensing 
the  kind  of  ogre  who  has  her  in  his  grip,  and  what  it 


290 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


means  for  any  man  to  rise  and  say,  “ I’ll  have  none  of 
you.” 

In  the  face  of  this,  it  took  courage  on  March  i for  the 
thirty-three  leaders,  here  and  there  throughout  the  land, 
to  come  boldly  out.  Not  a weapon  did  they  have.  Bel- 
gium was  brave  when  she  threw  her  army  into  the  breach 
and  defied  the  German  millions,  but  Korea  was  braver 
still  when  she  said,  “ I have  no  arms,  no  power  to  fight, 
no  one  to  whom  to  appeal  but  God,  no  redress.  Even 
my  body  is  not  mine — only  my  soul.  My  soul  only,  but 
bend  it  never  will.”  They  spoke  the  word.  They  set  the 
movement  going.  They  gave  their  benediction  to  all 
around,  with  smiling  faces,  and  then  walked  quietly  to 
arrest,  and  unresistingly  let  themselves  be  taken.  The 
prison  doors  clanged  hard  behind  them,  with  no  word 
since.  We  hear  reports  of  pain  and  mortal  agony,  but 
even  the  wife  at  home  keeps  a cheerful  face  and  says, 
“ Never  mind,  it’s  for  the  Cause,” 

Those  who  are  on  the  spot,  like  the  writer,  know  that 
this  is  courage  of  the  first  order.  The  martyrs,  who  went 
to  the  stake  in  the  sixteenth  century,  were  not  braver; 
not  even  those  who  died  in  the  days  of  Nero. 

Still,  the  men  on  that  first  day  did  not  know  what 
fully  awaited  them,  and  so  may  have  gone  forth  unwit- 
tingly. Ere  night  fell  crowds  had  been  cut  down  with 
swords,  beaten  with  fire-hooks,  hammered  with  blud- 
geons, shot,  trampled,  ridden  over,  till  peace  was  re- 
stored. 

The  demon  of  order  that  rules  Korea  doubtless  said, 
” I’ve  taught  these  fools  a lesson.  They’ll  think  twice 
before  they  venture  again  to  run  counter  to  the  might  of 
Japan.” 

Little  did  he  know.  It  has  not  ceased  till  this  day. 
Here  and  there  by  day,  by  night,  crowds  gather  like 
armies  of  the  unseen,  suddenly  flashed  visible.  " Long 
live  Korea ! Independence  forever  1 ” 


CHAEACTEES  CONTEASTED 


291 


No  word  has  been  heard  of  “ Down  with  Japan,”  no 
resentment  shown.  Had  Korea  desired,  on  that  second 
day,  seeing  her  bleeding,  trampled  sons,  and  knowing  how 
the  foul  fiend  would  treat  them  in  prison,  she  could 
have  armed  herself  with  clubs  and  stones  and  killed  every 
Japanese  in  the  outlying  country  and  burned  every  house 
in  Seoul,  with  probably  less  punishment  than  she  took 
for  simply  calling  Freedom.  But  this  was  not  her  order 
of  the  day.  “ Hurt  no  one.  Do  no  violence.  Let  our 
Cause  be  known.  It  is  just.” 

Doubtless  Japan  has  kind  hearts  in  many  places,  and 
she  must  not  all  be  condemned,  but  kind  hearts  are  not 
evident  in  the  machine  that  governs  Korea,  and  to  the 
Korean  this  machine  is  Japan  and  all  Japan.  It 
thought  that  a few  rounds  of  this  kind  would  surely  end 
the  mad  craze  that  possessed  the  Korean  and  deliver  the 
Government  from  the  trouble  on  hand,  but  no  such  re- 
sult followed. 

When  one  group  was  put  down  by  sword,  gun  and  iron 
bar,  others  stepped  into  their  places  to  take  up  the  call. 
Like  the  fiery  cross  of  ancient  Scotland,  it  flits  from  hand 
to  hand,  till  the  whole  land  is  caught  by  its  spirit  and  the 
only  thought  is  to  pass  it  on. 

One  of  the  striking  features  of  courage  is  that  shown 
by  the  young  women.  Right  well  they  know  what  tor- 
tures await  them  if  they  are  caught,  and  yet  they  have 
been  as  fearless  as  the  men.  Some  of  those  taken  March 
5,  when  on  their  way  to  wave  the  flag,  tell  their  story. 
Kicked,  beaten  and  flung  into  the  police  station,  there  to 
undergo  such  torture  as  would  daunt  the  bravest ! 

Girls  brought  up  in  tender  surroundings  just  as  care- 
fully as  regards  their  persons  as  any  young  woman  in 
the  Western  world,  are  subjected  to  this  agony,  and  yet 
they  take  it  with  smiling  faces.  A few  days  ago  I met 
one  of  them,  whom  the  police  are  close  after,  and  said 
to  her,  “ Have  a care.  Keep  out  of  it.”  She  smiled  in 


292 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


an  easy,  unsuppressed  way,  said  her  gentle  thanks  and 
was  gone. 

Kim  Maria,  a young  woman  of  about  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  whom  I have  known  from  a child,  is  now  locked 
up  in  the  inner  prison.  She  is  a beautiful  type  of 
Oriental  with  dreamy  eyes  and  dark  lashes,  such  as  only 
the  hidden  vistas  of  Asia  ever  see.  For  some  years  she 
has  lived  in  Japan  and  speaks  her  language  like  a native 
tongue.  What  is  her  sin?  The  same  as  that  which  sent 
Madame  Breshkovsky  to  the  salt  mines  of  Siberia.  She 
is  a patriot  and  would  give  her  life  to  see  Korea  free. 
Maria  knew  what  others  suffered  before  she  went,  but 
that  must  not  interfere  with  her  contribution  to  the  Cause. 
She  chose  Tennyson’s  line,  “ the  thumbscrew  and  the 
stake  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord.” 

Another  mark  of  Korea’s  courage  is  seen  in  the  plain 
men  of  the  country,  the  small  farmer,  who  has  had  little 
chance  to  know  the  larger  questions  of  life.  In  his  quiet 
soul  many  of  Confucius’  maxims  reside.  He  is  no  Bol- 
shevik, not  he,  for  the  Five  Rules  that  hold  society  to- 
gether in  East  Asia  hold  him  firm.  He  has  awakened, 
however,  to  the  fact  that  all  men  are  born  somehow  with 
certain  inherent  rights,  the  right  to  think,  the  right  to 
speak,  the  right  to  pray.  He  joins  the  vast  throng  of 
Koreans,  now  numbering  millions,  who  are  on  the  march 
shouting  the  Battle  Cry  of  Freedom.  He  knows,  as  the 
Daily  News  to-day  announces,  that  any  man  calling  Free- 
dom will  get  ninety  blows  of  the  bastinado.  What  is 
left  of  him  will  be  but  a poor  rag  to  start  ploughing  for 
the  summer  season.  Still,  he  is  undaunted  and  goes 
forth.  The  gendarmes  and  soldiers,  half  beside  them- 
selves, and  not  knowing  wEat  to  do,  fire  pointblank  into 
these  defenseless  crusaders  with  ball  cartridges,  thinking 
to  stamp  them  out,  but  not  a bit  of  it. 

I asked  a former  provincial  Governor,  who  called  on 
me  yesterday,  what  is  in  the  mind  of  the  Korean  country 


CHAEACTEES  CONTEASTED 


293 


folk  that  they  take  this  kind  of  punishment  and  yet  keep 
on.  “ A definite  conviction,”  says  he,  “ has  mysteriously 
come  to  possess  our  -whole  people  that  their  Cause  is 
right  and  that  the  right  will  win.  They  have  no  hatred  of 
their  oppressors,  no  desire  for  revenge.  If  we  had,  we 
could  soon  exercise  it  and  kill  every  Japanese  in  sight  as 
we  did  in  1884,  but  that’s  not  it.”  The  coni/iction  among 
Christians  and  non-Christians  alike  is  that  God  is  on  the 
side  of  right,  and  that  He  will  move  their  Cause  to  win. 
So  the  farmer  dies  with  no  resentment  in  his  soul  against 
any  individual  Japanese. 

I know  the  case  of  a man,  whose  young  nephew  was 
shot  and  killed  by  a gendarme.  The  people  of  the  town 
captured  the  Japanese  and  threatened  his  life  because  he 
had  shot  an  innocent  boy.  But  the  old  farmer  arrived  in 
hot  haste  to  say,  “ Let  him  go.  Killing  would  only  add 
crime  to  crime.  Let  him  go.”  Thus,  they  come  to  the 
Severance  Hospital,  shot  through  the  neck,  through  the 
abdomen,  lacerated  with  bayonet  thrusts  or  hacked  with 
sword. 

This  is  the  farmer,  but  how  about  the  aristocrat  ? The 
former  rulers  of  the  land — have  they  any  iron  in  their 
blood?  One  example  comes  to  me,  Yi  Sang-jai.  He 
was  born  in  the  same  year  as  Lord  Kitchener,  1850. 
He  is  not  so  tall,  never  wore  a sword,  is  much  more 
genial  than  Kitchener,  but  like  him  in  this  respect — that 
a million  young  men  admire  him  and  answer  to  his 
call. 

Yi  has  for  years  stood  for  reform,  and  while  sent  once 
to  Washington  as  secretary  of  the  legation,  and  later 
made  secretary  of  the  cabinet  of  the  old  regime,  the  Japa- 
nese have  always  regarded  him  as  a dangerous  man,  be- 
cause of  his  power  as  a speaker. 

The  following  will  gpve  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  kind 
of  fearless  man  he  is.  To  trifle  with  the  police  in  Korea 
is  like  playing  with  dynamite.  Recently,  they  called  on 


294 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


him  and  asked  if  he  were  aware  of  who  was  back  of  this 
Korean  movement. 

“ Why  do  you  ask  me  ? ” was  his  question. 

“ Because  we  rather  think  you  may  know — do  you  ? ” 

His  reply  was,  “ Why,  yes,  I do.  You  mean  the  chair- 
man of  the  committee  that  is  running  it  ? ” 

“ Exactly.” 

“ Well,”  said  Yi,  “ I’m  glad  to  tell  you.  His  name  is 
God  Almighty.  He  is  back  of  it.” 

The  police  answered,  “ Nonsense ! We  don’t  mean 
that.  Who  are  the  people  that  are  running  it — do  you 
know  them  ? ” 

“ Yes,  I know  them,”  was  Yi’s  answer,  ” know  them 
all.” 

“ Tell  us,  then,”  said  they,  with  note-books  ready. 

” All  the  Korean  people,”  said  Yi,  ” from  Fusan  to  the 
Ever-white  Mountains  and  beyond.  They  are  all  in  it. 
They  are  the  committee  back  of  the  agitation.” 

The  dry  grin  on  Yi’s  face  was  too  much  for  the  Japa- 
nese police,  who  packed  up  their  note-books  with  other 
gear  and  left. 

On  March  26,  Mr.  Usami,  Director  of  Home  Affairs, 
sent  a Japanese  who  speaks  and  writes  Korean,  to  Mr. 
Yi  Sang-jai  with  these  questions: 

(1)  What  is  the  reason  for  this  agitation? 

(2)  What  is  the  mind  of  the  Korean  people  towards 
the  Japanese  Government? 

(3)  What  do  you  suggest  in  the  way  of  change  to  set 
matters  right? 

“ In  answer  to  number  one,”  said  Yi,  “ I am  aware  of 
only  two  ways  of  holding  an  alien  people — one  by  good 
faith  and  the  other  by  force.  Good  faith  rests  on  mutual 
confidence,  and  the  assurance  that  the  Government  will 
do  the  square  thing.  Japan,  however,  broke  faith  when 
she  went  counter  to  the  treaty  of  1904,  which  says,  ‘ The 
Imperial  Government  of  Japan  definitely  guarantees  the 


CHAEACTEES  CONTEASTED 


296 


independence  and  integrity  of  the  Korean  Empire.’  In 
the  eyes  of  the  Korean  people  your  Emperor  Meiji  lied, 
and  they  now  regard  all  Japanese  as  liars.  There  is  no 
faith  possible  here.  Your  only  hold  upon  us  is  brute 
force,  and  that  leads  to  its  own  destruction.  Your  brutal 
Government,  and  the  mistrust  we  have  of  you  and  all 
your  nation,  is  the  cause  of  the  present  agitation. 

“ In  answer  to  question  number  two,  I must  say  that 
not  a Korean  is  with  you.  In  the  ordeal  through  which 
we  are  passing,  we  have  become  a united  people,  united 
in  this  one  thing — that  we  are  all  against  Japan.  The 
Korean  mind,  due  to  your  unfaithful  and  oppressive  ac- 
tions, has  receded  miles  away  from  you,  never  to  return. 

“ As  to  the  matter  of  a remedy,  I have  no  suggestion. 
Even  though  I made  suggestions,  you  have  no  power  to 
carry  them  through,  nor  has  Hasegawa.  Leave  it  as  it 
is,  your  destruction  lies  ahead.” 

I have  noticed  that  the  Japanese  have  a sort  of  fear  of 
Yi  Sang-jai,  much  as  the  Jews  had  of  Amos,  the  prophet. 
He  has  no  fear  of  them. 

Arrested  April  4,  he  now  is  locked  up  in  the  big 
prison  outside  the  west  gate  of  Seoul.  An  underground 
messenger  made  inquiry  some  time  ago  of  the  Minister 
of  Home  Affairs  as  to  Mr.  Yi’s  offense.  “ A very  dan- 
gerous mouth,”  was  the  answer. 

The  last  time  I saw  him  was  on  March  30.  Never 
had  I seen  in  our  more  than  twenty  years’  acquaintance 
anything  but  smiles  on  his  face.  His  was  always  the 
cheerful  word  in  spite  of  adverse  wind  and  weather;  but 
on  our  last  meeting,  tears  filled  his  eyes.  Was  it  because 
of  fear  of  arrest?  Not  he.  “ What  is  an  old  dog  like  me 
doing,  loose  and  running  about  in  a day  like  this?  Into 
prison  I should  go  and  lend  my  seventy  years  to  the 
Cause.”  His  tears  were  these : “ Our  girls  and  young 
women,”  said  he,  “ are  in  the  hands  of  savages,  no  hu- 
manity in  them.” 


296 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Even  the  children  lift  their  little  hands  to  Heaven  to 
lend  their  aid.  One  laddie  of  six  said  to  his  father,  “ Fa- 
ther, will  they  take  you  to  jail?  ” 

“ They  may,”  was  the  answer. 

“If  they  do,  don’t  sign  your  name.”  This  refers  to  a 
forced  putting  of  one’s  stamp  to  a paper  confessing 
wrong  or  making  confession. 

The  father  was  taken  a few  days  later,  but  finally  re- 
leased. When  he  came  home,  before  the  little  lad  could 
think  of  rejoicing,  he  asked,  “ Father,  you  did  not  sign 
your  name,  did  you  ? ” 

“ No,”  said  he,  “ I signed  nothing,”  so  his  little  boy 
was  glad. 

♦ ♦*♦♦♦** 

Great  crises  bring  out  the  true  nature  of  man.  We 
foreigners,  who  once  thought  the  Korean  lacking  in  cour- 
age, have  now  an  entirely  different  opinion  of  him.  The 
present  movement  for  Independence  reveals  the  real  fibre 
of  the  Korean  race.  We  now  see  that  he  possesses  an 
order  of  courage,  combined  with  cool  self-control,  that  is 
unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

' Japan’s  Problem 

Doubtless,  Japan  felt  in  1910,  when  the  announcement 
was  made,  “ Korea  Annexed,”  that  she  had  entered  upon 
a path  of  glory  unexampled  by  anything  in  her  past  his- 
tor}'.  Here  were  80,000  square  miles  of  land — hers  with 
the  flag  of  the  Rising  Sun  floating  over  it;  a foothold 
gained  on  the  mainland,  and  a definite  start  made  for  the 
mastery  of  East  Asia. 

Had  Korea  been  an  inanimate  object,  without  soul,  or 
sense,  or  feeling,  it  doubtless  would  have  been  as  Japan 
thought.  Her  dry  biting  atmosphere  of  winter  could 
have  been  overcome ; her  dull  brown  hills  could  have  been 
whipped  into  line,  roads  and  waterways  opened  up,  and 
a world  of  wonder  made  of  her  to  blossom  like  the  rose 


CHAEACTEES  COFTEASTED 


297 


— an  agreeable  picture  to  the  mind  of  the  ordinary  Japa- 
nese, who  had  just  heard  that  Korea  was  annexed. 

But  the  Japanese  sometimes,  like  the  rest  of  us, -think 
they  know  it  all  before  they  have  tried  their  apprentice 
hand,  and,  when  the  day  of  reckoning  comes,  the  show- 
ing is  poor. 

So  it  is  to-day.  The  Japanese  are  trying  to  hide  it 
even  from  themselves,  but  the  fact  remains  that  they  have 
made  a failure  in  Korea,  so  that  the  peninsula  is  less 
theirs  to-day  than  when  it  was  annexed.  In  her  efforts 
of  the  last  four  months  to  compel  the  Korean  to  love 
her,  she  has  driven  even  her  friends  away,  and  now  has 
a problem  on  her  hands  that  may  well  give  her  pause. 

Where  lies  the  trouble  ? What  is  the  matter  ? 

Foreigners  go  by  and  they  see  great  material  improve- 
ments in  Korea:  well  ordered  streets,  better  buildings, 
vastly  improved  sanitary  conditions,  increase  of  prosper- 
ity, and  they  herald  the  news  abroad  that  Japan  has  been 
a boon  unexampled. 

This  is  the  superficial  view  that  makes  matter  more 
than  mind,  and  body  greater  than  soul.  It  is  the  view  of 
the  man,  who  has  not  yet  learned  Shakespeare’s  little  line, 
“ There  is  nothing  either  good  or  bad  but  thinking  makes 
it  so.” 

The  writer  used  to  imagine  that  Japan  would  prove  an 
expert  at  reading  the  Korean  mind,  seeing  that  she  her- 
self was  an  Oriental,  and  was,  therefore,  within  the 
charmed  circle  of  the  East.  But  he  has  changed  his  mind. 
Japan  knows  little  or  nothing  of  what  Korea  means  or 
matters.  The  methods  she  adopts,  the  words  she  speaks, 
the  announcements  she  makes,  prove  her  ignorance.  It 
is  not  unfair  to  say  that  she  is  wholly  unaware  of  the  kind 
of  being  she  has  to  deal  with,  and  so  to-day  has  resorted 
to  the  bayonet  and  gun-butt  to  solve  her  problem. 

An  old  woman  with  her  hand  shot  off  by  buckshot,  a 
little  boy  of  twelve  with  his  skull  smashed  in,  an  old  man 


298 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


smothered  with  his  head  in  a cess-pool,  are  startling  land- 
marks along  the  way,  but  they  do  not  solve  the  problem. 

Japan  began  with  a handicap.  For  a thousand  years 
and  more  the  Korean  has  viewed  the  Japanese  as  his 
mortal  enemy.  Three  hundred  years  ago  this  enemy 
landed  and  went  through  the  country  with  fire  and  sword, 
confirming  the  view,  till  his  name  became  the  synonym 
for  all  that  was  evil.  This  name  has  remained  ever  since 
the  Hideyoshi  invasion.  Now  Japan  comes  over  in  the 
guise  of  the  beneficent  pater  familias  to  rule.  Starting 
with  a debt  heaped  up,  it  surely  behooved  her  to  walk 
circumspectly,  with  all  wisdom  and  sympathy,  if  ever  she 
hoped  to  guide  the  people  of  Korea  into  a companionable 
relationship  with  herself. 

But  she  showed  her  mistaken  reading  of  the  problem 
from  the  very  first  by  her  determination  to  assimilate. 
She  actually  thought  that  she  could  make  the  Koreans 
Japanese;  wipe  their  language  off  the  slate;  remake  their 
history ; bury  their  literature  out  of  sight,  and  cause  them 
to  forget  4,000  years  of  a civilization  quite  equal  to  that 
of  Japan.  She  forgot  that  Koreans  were  an  older  race 
than  herself,  and  that  they  taught  her  religion  and  morals, 
and  were  her  masters  in  the  arts  and  crafts  tfiat  make 
her  famous  to-day ; that  they  are  mentally  quite  her  equal, 
though  a people  of  entirely  different  ideals.  Without 
a notion  of  all  this,  she  has  set  to  beat  up  and  hammer 
them  into  freshly  made  Japanese,  and  put  Bushido  pa- 
triotism into  their  souls,  as  you  would  put  salmon  into  a 
tin.  Never  was  there  a greater  misreading  of  the  other 
man,  with  utter  failure  in  its  wake.  The  Koreans  to-day 
are  united  in  their  opposition  to  the  whole  Japanese  prop- 
aganda, and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is  not 
a question  of  Christians;  peers,  literati,  farmers,  labour- 
ers are  all  in  it. 

The  Japanese  thought  their  civilization  would  win  the 
Korean.  They  are  an  organized  nation  while  the 


CHAEACTEES  COETEASTED 


299 


Koreans  are  not.  They  have  won  a place  in  the  council 
of  nations,  while  the  Korean  has  won  nothing.  They 
are  orderly  and  diligent  while  the  Korean  is  the  reverse, 
but  this  again  has  failed. 

Along  with  Japanese  civilization  go  some  marked  de- 
fects that  the  Korean  sees  full  well.  For  example : their 
planting  of  the  brothel  system  all  over  the  land,  and  the 
exploiting  of  the  fallen  woman  with  a million  dollars  back 
of  her,  is  something  new  to  the  Korean,  and  something 
that  he  has  been  quick  to  see.  “ We  are  an  immoral  race 
ourselves,”  says  he,  “ but  never  as  bad  as  this,”  and  those 
who  read  and  are  acquainted  with  Korean  history  know 
that  he  is  right. 

If  Japan  had  understood  even  a little  of  what  her  task 
meant  and  ever  hoped  to  win  the  Korean,  she  would  have 
barred  the  door  against  the  fallen  woman,  the  unrighteous 
judge,  the  official  land-grabber,  and  a host  of  other  evils 
that  stalk  through  the  land. 

Japan  forgets  that  Korea  sees,  takes  note,  and  thinks. 
When  her  youth  are  forbidden  every  national  ambition, 
but,  instead,  are  tempted  by  hand-bill  and  word  of  mouth 
to  yield  body  and  soul  to  the  insidious  snares  of  the  vilest 
organizations,  will  she  not  see?  The  thinking  classes 
cannot  but  say,  “Don’t  talk  to  us  of  Japan;  she  is  not 
civilized.” 

The  Korean,  like  other  varieties  of  human  beings,  can 
lie.  Yet  he  knows  that  lying  is  degrading  and  will  not 
allow  his  teacher,  his  governor  or  his  magistrate  to  lie 
without  branding  him  as  an  inferior  order  of  being.  The 
Japanese  do  not  seem  to  know  this.  Here,  too,  they 
have  misread  the  Korean  mind.  They  think  they  can 
say  anything  they  like  in  their  Government  papers,  and 
report  what  is,  or  what  is  not,  with  impunity.  They  for- 
get that  the  Korean  reads  it  with  keen  eye  and  common- 
sense  and  says,  “ Egregious  liars,  all  of  them.” 

The  fact  that  Viscount  Kim  Yun-sik,  oldest  of  the 


300 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


peers,  head  of  the  Confucian  college,  and  ever  a friend 
of  Japan  in  the  past,  joined  the  movement  early  in  March, 
but,  as  yet,  has  found  no  mention  in  Korea’s  public  press ; 
or  that  Kwak  Chong-suk’s  going  to  prison  with  all  the 
literati  in  his  train  has  called  forth  no  comment,  while  the 
papers  still  talk  as  though  the  Christians  and  Chuntokyo 
were  the  whole  r^ovement, — all  convinces  the  Korean  the 
more  that  official  Japan  does  not  speak  the  truth. 

The  task  still  remains.  How  is  Japan  going  to  do  it? 
She  will  never  make  Japanese  of  the  Koreans  by  force. 
The  writer  knows  the  Korean  fairly  well ; once  rouse 
him,  and  he  is  as  hard  as  adamant.  He  calmly  smiles  at 
the  all-accumulated  terrors  of  Japan,  and  says,  “ Do 
your  worst ; shoot  and  kill.  The  time  will  come  when  the 
tables  will  be  turned,  and  I shall  be  ready  for  you.” 

Japan  is  making  out  of  Korea  a hardened,  fearless  na- 
tion, where  she  will  have  nearly  twenty  millions  of  sworn 
enemies.  This  is  the  course  that  she  is  at  present  pur- 
suing. 

Can  Japan  solve  the  problem,  or  is  it  beyond  her? 
Most  thinking  people  think  the  latter.  The  writer  thinks 
she  might  solve  it  if  she  would.  Given  a group  of  Japa- 
nese of  the  Kato  order,  who  are  fearless  to  start  with, 
as  fearless  as  the  Koreans;  who  would  read  the  other 
man  sympathetically  and  see  that  though  he  is  not  equal 
to  a Japanese  in  some  respects,  he  is  superior  in  others; 
who  would  like  to  treat  him  as  he  himself  would  be 
treated,  and  we  shall  make  a start  at  the  solution.  But 
to  shoot  pointblank  with  ball-cartridge  into  the  crowd  that 
simply  says,  “ Give  me  liberty,”  or  to  pound  with  gun- 
butt  and  bludgeon  those  who  smile  and  say,  “ Korea  For- 
ever,” or  to  insult  decent  girls  because  they  will  not  be 
afraid,  is  a matter  that  will  bring  the  ball-cartridge  home 
to  Japan  some  day. 


XVIII 


CONCLUSION 

“ T APAN  has  started  something  that  she  is  unable 
I to  finish!”  observed  one  Westerner,  comment- 
^ ing  on  the  Korean  situation.  That  hits  the  nail 
on  the  head.  The  Western  public  was  informed  by  the 
Japanese  Government  that  civil  administration  has 
been  introduced  in  Korea;  that  reforms  of  various 
kinds  have  been  initiated ; that  the  situation  in  the  pen- 
insula had  reached  its  high-water  mark  in  March  and 
April,  1919,  and  had  now  simmered  down  to  mere 
chronic  grievances.  Japan  would  have  Westerners  be- 
lieve that  all  is  well  and  peaceful  in  Korea  by  this  time. 

But  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  Independence 
Movement  merely  began  in  March  and  April,  1919, 
and  the  Koreans  are  determined  to  carry  it  through  to 
its  end.  With  all  her  force  and  brutality,  Japan  has 
opened  the  lid  of  the  Pandora’s  box  of  Korean  in- 
dependence. The  movement  is,  in  truth,  more  uni- 
versal among  the  Koreans  now  than  it  was  last  year, 
and  arrests,  tortures  and  military  oppression  still  con- 
tinue. A number  of  able  observers  visited  Korea  since 
the  introduction  of  reform  measures  under  the  civil 
administration  of  Admiral  Saito.  The  united  testi- 
mony of  these  witnesses,  on  the  present  conditions  in 
Korea,  speaks  for  itself. 

301 


302 


THE  CASE  OF  KOKEA 


Nathaniel  Pef¥er,  the  special  correspondent  of  the 
China  Press,  Shanghai,  the  most  influential  American 
daily  in  China,  was  in  Korea  in  December,  1919.  He 
published  in  his  paper  a series  of  articles,  entitled: 
“ The  Truth  About  Korea.”  Mr.  Peffer  is  not  anti- 
Japanese,  nor  is  he  pro-Korean;  he  simply  wrote  about 
the  existing  conditions  in  Korea  as  he  saw  them.  I 
quote  the  following  passages  from  one  of  his  articles 
which  are  illuminating  on  the  present  situation  in 
Korea  under  the  civil  administration  of  Japan. 

There  is  now  in  the  heart  of  Korea,  of  every  Korean,  a 
bitterness  against  Japan  that  cannot  be  expunged  at 
least  for  a generation,  if  then.  It  is  a bitterness  that  has 
grown  slowly  and  cumulatively  in  the  ten  years  of  op- 
pression since  annexation,  and  was  permanently  fixed  by 
the  cruelty  with  which  the  unarmed  and  peaceful  dem- 
onstrations of  March  were  crushed.  The  Japanese  may 
now  realize  their  error  and  make  restitution.  And, 
looked  at  theoretically,  that  may  be  regarded  as  satis- 
faction to  Korea  and  even  victory.  But  racial  attitudes 
are  matters  of  instinct.  And  it  is  a matter  of  instinct  now 
with  the  Koreans.  They  do  not  reason ; they  do  not  claim 
to  be  logical.  Their  bitterness  is  implanted  in  them ; it 
is  in  the  blood  of  their  veins.  Before  that  bitterness  re- 
forms, even  the  reforms  they  have  asked  and  would  be- 
fore have  been  satisfied  with,  are  as  nothing.  They  want 
independence,  and  only  independence.  They  may  not  win 
it,  may  not  win  it  for  decades  or  ever,  but  they  will  be 
satisfied  with  nothing  less.  And  they  will  struggle,  openly 
or  under  cover,  to  the  point,  I believe,  of  racial  suicide. 
It  is  not  a matter  of  whether  or  not  they  are  legally  en- 
titled to  independence,  whether  or  not  in  the  present  state 
of  international  morality  Japan  can  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  grant  independence,  whether  or  not  Korea  is 


CONCLUSION 


303 


yet  qualified  for  independence.  The  Koreans  do  not 
even  think  of  those  questions ; they  refuse  to.  It  is  a mat- 
ter of  hatred,  not  reason.  It  is  not  for  other  people  to 
say  whether  or  not  they  are  justified.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  face  that  as  the  basic,  central  fact,  and  it  is 
necessary  to  state  it  as  such  and  to  realize  its  conse- 
quences. And  it  is  possible  to  find  and  to  state  its  causes. 

But  make  no  mistake  about  this;  instinctive  as  the  de- 
termination may  be,  it  is  not  being  executed  blindly.  To 
the  outer  world  Korea  may  be  quiescent;  inwardly  it  is 
seething  with  activity.  The  “ Provisional  Government  ” 
that  lately  sat  at  Shanghai  is  not  a comic  opera  fancy. 
Under  the  surface  Korea  is  to-day  completely  organized, 
and,  almost  literally  under  ground,  that  organization  is 
functioning.  Its  existence  is  known  to  the  Japanese;  no 
secret  is  revealed  in  talking  of  it.  But  its  personnel,  the 
method  of  its  activities,  its  location  and  its  support  have 
the  Japanese  completely  baffled.  Their  veritable  army 
of  spies,  many  of  them  renegade  Koreans,  avails  them 
nothing.  They  make  arrests  by  the  hundreds,  but  whom 
they  have  they  do  not  know,  and  they  punish  the  innocent 
with  the  guilty.  But  arrests  or  no  arrests,  the  organiza- 
tion goes  on  nevertheless.  Even  the  Koreans  who  are  in 
it  are  largely  ignorant  of  its  secret.  They  know  only 
their  own  part.  And  even  of  those  same  renegade 
Koreans  who  serve  Japan  as  spies  it  is  understood  that 
there  are  some  serving  it  by  reporting  Japanese  intentions 
and  deceiving  the  Japanese.  That,  too,  is  no  secret.  The 
Japanese  know  it;  they  have  caught  some  doing  that. 
It  is  the  atmosphere  of  the  melodrama,  and  to  live  now 
in  Korea  is  thrilling.  True,  the  end  may  reveal  it  as 
tragedy.  Probably  it  will;  but  it  will  be  an  historic 
tragedy. 

Two  facts  must  be  impressed  in  connection  with  the 
Korean  movement.  The  first  is  that  this  is  no  work  of 


304 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


“ professional  agitators.”  It  is  a truly  national  move- 
ment. The  second  is  the  remarkable  organization  behind 
it  and  the  efficiency  \vith  which  it  operated  and  still  op- 
erates. I do  not  mean  to  say  that  every  peasant  in  every 
remote  village  has  reasoned  out  to  himself  all  the  causes 
and  implications  of  the  movement.  I do  not  mean  to  say 
that  every  village  peasant  understands  the  full  implica- 
tions of  independence.  I do  mean  to  say  that  it  is  felt 
by  every  Korean,  or  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
Koreans;  that  the  instinct  is  strong  if  not  the  logical 
processes.  And  races,  as  well  as  individuals,  move  as 
much  by  instinct  as  by  reason.  And  if  the  movement 
was  not  national  in  March,  it  undeniably  is  so  now.  The 
Japanese  have  made  it  so.  What  eyes  were  closed  before 
are  opened  now,  where  resignation  was  before  is  now 
defiance.  The  Japanese  have  made  the  Koreans  patriots 
as  they  wished — but  patriots  for  Korea.  In  spite  of 
themselves,  they  have  done  a great  thing  for  Korea.  Ig- 
norant men,  thoughtless  boys  and  girls  who  took  part  in 
the  demonstrations  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment  and 
without  reckoning  its  consequences  have  come  out  of  jail 
not  with  regrets;  far  from  that,  they  are  now  dedicated 
to  the  cause  of  independence.  I have  talked  to  men  and 
women  only  ten  hours  from  prison,  who  have  endured 
in  prison  sufferings  to  shake  the  spirit  of  martyrs.  And 
they  have  said  to  me  that,  knowing  well  all  that  it  means, 
they  would  go  willingly  back  to  their  cells  the  same  day 
if  it  would  help  their  cause.  They  did  not  all  talk  lightly 
and  in  bravado ; I knew  of  some  papers  that  they  had  in 
the  big  folds  of  their  clothes  while  they  were  speaking, 
papers  that  would  send  them  back  into  imprisonment  for 
six  months  more.  These  were  not  your  natural  radicals, 
not  the  intellectuals,  but  plain  men  and  women,  shop- 
keepers and  farmers,  wives  and  mothers.  Japan  does  not 
^ven  dimly  understand  what  it  has  stirred  up. 

An  equally  remarkable  fact  is  the  thoroughness  and 


CONCLUSION 


305 


efficiency  with  which  the  movement  was  planned  and 
executed.  None  of  the  officials  with  the  best  intelligence 
service  at  their  command  or  of  the  foreigners  who  are 
closest  in  touch  with  Koreans  had  even  the  smallest 
knowledge  or  warning  of  what  was  to  come.  There  was 
unrest  in  the  air;  that  everybody  knew,  but  no  more. 
Only  the  leaders  knew  and  those  who  were  carrying  out 
the  plans.  Copies  of  the  declaration  of  independence  had 
been  printed  by  thousands  and  sent  throughout  the 
country  ready  for  distribution.  Thousands  of  small 
Korean  flags  had  been  made  and  sent  about — and  it  has 
always  been  a crime  to  have  one  of  these  in  one’s  posses- 
sion. Meetings  had  been  arranged  and  their  speakers 
chosen  and  the  exact  time  fixed  for  each  city.  Propa- 
ganda had  already  been  sent  abroad — a copy  of  the  decla- 
ration of  independence  and  a statement  of  Korea’s  posi- 
tion were  brought  to  me  in  the  office  of  The  China 
Press  the  same  day  the  declaration  was  proclaimed. 
Money  had  been  raised.  A daily  paper  called  the  In- 
dependence Newspaper  was  being  secretly  printed  in  the 
,same  manner  as  La  Libre  Belgique  and  with  the  same 
thrilling  accompaniments.  A complex,  national  organi- 
zation was  working  smoothly.  For  the  first  time  in  their 
history  Koreans  had  shown  a capacity  for  cooperative 
and  united  action.  And  all  of  it  at  dire  peril  and  under 
heavy  cover.  It  is  an  impressive  achievement. 

That  organization  is  still  functioning  and  the  spirit 
behind  it  is  still  active.  I have  already  touched  on  this 
in  a previous  article.  I have  told  how  the  country  is 
divided  up  and  a secret  government  is  in  force.  Orders 
are  given,  secretly  communicated — usually  by  girls  and 
women  who  travel  about  with  papers  hidden  in  their 
clothes — and  secretly  executed.  Communications  are 
maintained  with  Shanghai  and  with  England  and 
America.  Money  is  raised,  collected  and  sent  out.  Mil- 
lions of  yen  have  been  smuggled  over  the  Yalu  River  into 


306 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Manchuria  and  China,  and  thousands  have  been  caught 
in  transit  by  the  Japanese  and  confiscated,  the  bearers 
getting  harsh  punishment.  Men  and  \vomen  disappear 
and  again  appear.  The  Independence  Paper  still  comes 
out  at  irregular  intervals.  It  is  printed  on  mimeographs, 
carried  about  over  the  country  and  distributed.  Men 
find  it  on  their  desks,  knowing  neither  how  it  came  nor 
when.  Where  the  mimeographs  are  obtained,  where  they 
are  kept,  when  they  are  operated — all  this  is  as  baffling 
to  the  Japanese  as  it  is  to  the  stray  tourist. 

Behind  the  secret  government  itself  is  what  is  called 
the  National  Society.  As  one  man  explained  to  me,  this 
is  for  the  purpose  of  fitting  the  people  for  independence, 
of  teaching  them  the  meaning  of  self-government  and  its 
responsibilities  and  duties.  The  existence  of  this  society 
is  no  secret,  but  who  its  members  are  and  what  they  do 
— that  is  not  known,  even  to  all  the  members.  Hundreds 
are  being  arrested  on  suspicion  of  connection  with  it,  but 
the  society  goes  on  nevertheless.  Arrests  have  become 
common  in  Korea.  Men  are  taken  up  suddenly  and  with- 
out warning  or  explanation,  are  held  in  custody  and 
beaten  to  make  them  yield  information  and  are  sentenced 
or  released  as  the  case  may  be.  And  every  man  who 
has  been  arrested  and  beaten  without  being  guilty  of  any 
part  in  the  movement  immediately  becomes  a part  of  it. 

It  is  not  to  be  thought  that  because  nothing  gets  into 
the  newspaper  columns  all  is  quiet  in  Korea.  It  is  not. 
Even  while  I was  there  demonstrations  occurred  in  Pyeng 
Yang  and  a few  other  places.  A nation-wide  demon- 
stration of  the  same  kind  as  the  one  of  last  spring  had 
been  planned  for  the  middle  of  the  month,  but  the  police 
learned  of  it  and  by  an  impressive  show  of  force  in  the 
streets  before  it  was  to  start  compelled  it  to  be  called 
off.  A national  wailing  day  was  set  for  public  mourn- 
ing, but  for  reasons  of  expediency  it,  too,  was  called  off. 
While  I was  there  most  of  the  schools  were  closed  by  a 


I 


•■THIi:  PROVISIONAL  OOVERNMRNT  THAT  LATELY  SAT  AT  SHANOHAI  IS  NOT  A COMIC  OPERA 
FANCY.  ...  A COMPU5X,  NATIONAL  ORC.ANIZATION  WAS  WORICING  SMOOTHLY” 


CONCLUSION 


307 


strike,  the  students  refusing  to  go  on  studying  Japanese 
for  the  number  of  hours  prescribed ; they  insist  that  it  be 
taught  only  as  a foreign  language. 

Small  boys  in  one  school  in  Seoul  waited  until  their 
Japanese  principal  came  in  and,  drawn  up  smartly  in 
military  formation — according  to  the  custom  of  the 
schools — informed  the  principal  that  they  could  no  longer 
study  out  of  Japanese  text-books.  The  principal  told 
them  they  would  have  to  obey  orders,  but  later  the  Gov- 
ernment might  act  on  their  demands.  The  youngsters 
quietly  marched  to  a corner,  tore  their  Japanese  books 
into  little  bits,  marched  back  in  front  of  the  principal, 
informed  him  they  would  come  back  to  school  when 
they  no  longer  had  to  use  Japanese  text-books,  smartly 
saluted  and  walked  out.  Such  episodes  occur  regularly. 
They  will  continue  to  occur.  The  demonstrations  may 
have  been  postponed  last  month ; as  likely  as  not  they  will 
be  held  this  month  or  next.  They  will  continue  to  be 
held.  And  they  will  be  continued  to  be  the  hardest  kind 
of  resistance  to  combat — passive  resistance.  Their  war- 
fare is  all  out  of  Japanese  technique.  If  the  Koreans 
had  arms  with  which  to  fight,  the  Japanese  could  shoot 
them  down  and  crush  them.  When  small  boys  merely 
tear  up  their  text-books  and  walk  out  and  grown  men 
merely  fold  their  arms  and  shout,  “ Long  live  Korea,” 
the  Japanese  are  at  sea.  They  have  no  strategy  of  de- 
fense. Even  torture  has  proven  unavailing. 

Miss  Elsie  McCormick,  a trained  journalist,  and  a 
careful  judge  of  conditions  and  circumstances,  was 
travelling  through  the  Far  East,  in  the  spring  of  1920 
with  a delegation  of  American  women,  who  were  look- 
ing over  the  mission  fields  with  especial  reference  to 
the  work  that  could  be  done  for  native  women.  In 
recording  her  observations  in  Korea,  she  wrote: 


308 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


We  began  the  day  by  going  to  see  the  nurses’  dormi- 
tory at  Severance  Union  Medical  College,  a missionary 
institution  supported  by  four  different  denominations. 
We  found  the  dormitories  in  confusion  and  the  matron 
in  tears.  An  hour  before,  the  Japanese  police  had  car- 
ried off  one  of  the  nurses  on  the  pretext  of  using  her  for 
a witness;  the  nurses  had  just  heard  that  the  young 
woman  had  been  bundled  off  to  a prison  in  the  country, 
far  beyond  the  reach  of  those  who  might  help  her.  She 
had  gone  without  taking  money  or  any  personal  belong- 
ings, and  was,  therefore,  entirely  without  means  of  miti- 
gating the  discomforts  of  imprisonment.  No  charge  had 
been  made  against  her;  it  was  quite  possible  that  no 
charge  ever  would  be  made,  the  missionaries  declared. 

Two  students  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Girls’  School 
at  Seoul  had  recently  been  released  as  innocent  after  five 
months  of  solitary  confinement,  during  which  time  there 
was  not  even  the  pretense  of  a trial.  The  merest  sus- 
picion of  disloyalty  is  quite  enough  to  warrant  an  arrest, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Japanese.  There  seems  to  be  a sys- 
tematic attempt  to  wear  down  the  morale  of  the  Koreans 
by  a long  process  of  goading  and  hectoring. 

We  next  visited  the  Presbyterian  Girls’  School.  More 
confusion.  Five  Korean  teachers  had  just  been  arrested 
by  the  Japanese  police,  and  were  being  held  incommuni- 
cado. One  of  the  young  women  suffered  from  a rup- 
tured ear  drum  as  the  result  of  a beating  received  during 
a former  term  of  imprisonment.  Constant  persecution  of 
pupils  and  staff  had  reduced  the  enrollment  from  eighty 
to  twenty-six,  a missionary  declared.  Loss  of  the  entire 
native  faculty  would  probably  mean  the  temporary  clos- 
ing of  the  school. 

At  the  hospital  connected  with  the  Severance  Union 
Medical  College,  we  met  a Korean  doctor,  who  declared 
in  great  distress  that  his  sister  had  been  taken  prisoner 
that  morning,  and  that  she  had  been  separated  from  her 


CONCLUSION 


309 


five  months’  old  baby.  “ After  all,  however,  we  have 
fared  better  than  other  schools  in  the  city,”  stated  the 
physician  in  charge  without  a trace  of  sarcasm.  “ Only 
five  of  our  medical  students  are  in  jail.” 

Although  the  churches  we  visited  on  the  following  day 
seemed  well  filled  to  us,  those  who  escorted  us  apologized 
for  what  they  called  meagre  congregations,  stating  that 
many  members  were  imprisoned,  and  that  others  had  fled 
to  Manchuria.  Only  one  of  the  eight  native  Presbyterian 
pastors  was  out  of  jail,  they  said,  which  was  a decided 
hindrance  to  church  work. 

After  mentioning  the  Japanese  methods  of  flogging 
and  prison  tortures,  which  were  still  going  on.  Miss 
McCormick  concludes: 

In  defense  of  the  practice,  Japanese  have  pleaded  that 
flogging  was  the  mildest  punishment  recognized  under 
the  old  Korean  law  and  that  in  using  it,  they  were  merely 
following  the  Korean  custom.  But  no  matter  what  ex- 
cuse is  offered,  the  fact  that  two  young  Korean  students 
were  recently  beaten  to  death  on  half  proved  charges  of 
disloyalty,  will  remain  an  eternal  blot  on  Japan’s  admin- 
istration of  Chosen. 

Frazier  Hunt,  the  Far  Eastern  correspondent  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune  Foreign  News  Service,  was  in  Korea 
during  April,  1920.  In  his  dispatch  from  Seoul,  dated 
April  20,  Mr.  Hunt  wrote: 

All  Korea  in  Revolt 

The  spirit  of  independence  and  revolution  has  per- 
meated into  every  class  and  section  in  all  Korea.  In- 
stead of  lying  down  with  the  promise  of  reforms  made 
by  the  new  Japanese  Governor-General,  the  fire  is  kept 
glowing  under  ashes  of  hate. 


310 


THE  CASE  OF  KOKEA 


First  by  police  inquisitions  and  gendarme  cruelties,  the 
Japanese  tried  to  crush  the  revolt,  but  that  failing,  they 
have  tried  to  sidetrack  it  with  promises  of  numerous  re- 
forms. But  there  have  been  so  many  strings  tied  to  most 
of  the  promises  that  they,  too,  have  failed  to  check  the 
steady  growth  of  the  independence  movement. 

In  the  days  that  I have  been  here,  I have  gone  about 
among  the  people  sounding  the  depth  of  their  determina- 
tion for  independence.  Again  and  again,  I have  been 
astonished  to  find  how  deeply  this  demand  for  freedom 
has  sunk  itself,  and  how  universal  is  the  willingness  to 
make  any  sacrifice  to  help  the  Cause. 

Despite  the  28,934  who  were  thrown  into  jail  during 
the  first  four  months  of  the  revolution,  and  the  9,078 
who  were  flogged  and  thousands  who  were  put  through 
cruel  third  degrees  by  the  police,  the  spirit  of  fight  is  far 
from  broken. 

To-day  I returned  from  a hundred-mile  motorcycle 
trip  into  the  countiy  that  I made  in  order  to  see  with  my 
own  eyes  some  of  the  burned  Christian  churches  and  to 
feel  with  my  own  hands  the  pulse  of  the  Korean  farmers. 
It  was  an  eighteen-hour  ride  over  bumpy  roads,  but  it 
was  worth  it,  because  I need  quote  no  one  now  but  these 
peasants  themselves  in  order  to  show  how  real  is  this 
hate  of  Japan  and  how  deep  is  the  determination  for 
freedom. 

It  was  difficult  to  get  these  simple,  uneducated  men  of 
the  soil  to  talk  freely  because  of  fear  of  the  gendarmes 
and  the  heart-breaking  spy  system  that  always  hangs  over 
them  like  some  black  cloud.  A fine  upstanding  mission- 
ary, who  is  giving  all  his  life  to  helping  these  poor  people, 
interpreted  for  me,  but  even  with  his  assurances  that  we 
were  Americans,  it  took  more  than  a little  coaxing  before 
they  would  open  their  hearts  to  us. 

“ The  ruins — there  is  what  is  left  of  the  church,”  one 
old  fellow  finally  started  out.  “ Twenty-four  men  of 


CONCLUSION 


311 


this  village,  all  Christians,  were  killed  there  last  year  by 
the  soldiers.  They  were  called  to  the  church  and  shot. 
Then  the  soldiers  set  fire  to  the  building.” 

“ And  will  you  go  on  dreaming  of  freedom?  ” I asked. 

“ We  are  only  ignorant  peasants,”  he  answered,  “ but 
we  want  our  country  for  ourselves.  We  want  our  own 
lands.” 

It  was  not  much,  but  it  was  the  spark  that  wins  revo- 
lutions— the  dream  of  wanting  their  own  country  for 
themselves.  And  millions  of  them  are  willing  to  fight  for 
it. 

I recall  a conversation  I had  with  one  of  these  militant 
ones  on  this  same  trip.  He  was  a boy  of  fifteen,  and  we 
stopped  him  on  the  road  near  Seoul  and  started  talking 
to  him.  He  had  finished  the  primary  school  and  was  now 
working  in  a little  factory  in  the  outskirts.  We  asked 
him  all  about  his  work  and  then  swung  onto  the  revo- 
lution. 

“ Were  you  in  the  demonstrations  and  did  you  shout 
Mansei  (independence)?”  I asked. 

“ Of  course,”  he  answered. 

“ And  are  you  going  to  take  part  in  more  demonstra- 
tions ? ” 

“ Of  course.” 

“ But  you  might  be  arrested  and  beaten,”  I suggested. 

“ What  does  that  matter?  ” he  answered  simply. 

“ But  you  might  even  be  killed.  You  are  young,  and 
you  have  many  things  to  live  for.  You  might  be  killed.” 

" Indeed,  I would  truly  live  forever,  then,”  he  an- 
swered. “ I would  be  a hero  of  Korea  and  men  would 
honour  me  forever.” 

Pride  in  revolution ! Dreams  of  a hero’s  death  ! 

Boys  growing  up  singing  the  eternal  songs  of  Inde- 
pendence ! 

So  again  let  it  be  written  that  the  fire  of  revolution 
bums  in  the  heart  of  every  Korean.  In  some  it  is  only 


312 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


a dull  glow,  but  in  others  it  is  a flaming  spirit  that  can 
never  be  put  out. 

Japan  faces  the  impossible  because  there  can  be  no 
answer  to  the  call  for  independence — except  independ- 
ence. 

The  foregoing  statements  from  American  eye-wit- 
nesses will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  present  situa- 
tion in  Korea.  The  question  may  be  asked — what  is 
to  be  the  outcome  of  all  this? 

Japan’s  position  in  Korea  is  an  impossible  one.  She 
is  no  more  capable  of  governing  an  alien  race  now 
than  she  was  in  the  days  of  her  “ Restoration,”  over 
half  a century  ago.  The  mind  of  her  militarists  can- 
not conceive  any  other  force  than  that  of  soldier’s 
rifle  and  policeman’s  sword  in  suppressing  the  orderly 
and  non-resistant  Independence  Movement  of  the 
Koreans.  The  more  force  she  uses  the  stronger  be- 
comes the  movement.  Indeed,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
grim  tragedy  behind  it  all  and  for  the  storm  of  indig- 
nation that  one  is  swept  into  at  the  stupidity  and 
cruelty  of  Japan’s  history  in  Korea,  one  can  almost 
waste  a little  pity  on  Japan. 

Before  the  thrilling  miracle  of  a re-awakened,  re- 
vived people,  Japan  stands  completely  bewildered  and 
just  a bit  chastened.  She  does  not  know  what  to  make 
of  the  sudden  rising  up  of  a crushed,  broken  race,  just 
as  she  doesn’t  know  what  to  make  of  a world  that  is 
no  longer  under  the  spell  of  the  German  military 
might-makes-right  idea  that  she  believed  in  and 
dreamed  of  conquering  the  East  with. 

The  civil  party  of  Japan,  led  by  the  Kara  adminis- 


CONCLUSION 


313 


tration,  tried  theit  time-honoured  tactics — bribery— of 
which  the  Japanese  statesmen  are  past  masters.  But 
to  their  surprise  and  regret,  they  found  out  that  the 
Korean  leaders  of  to-day  are  made  of  different  stuff 
from  that  of  the  old  Korean  Government  officials  that 
they  used  to  deal  with,  and  that  all  the  wealth  and 
glory  of  the  world  cannot  bribe  a single  Korean  na- 
tionalist. Thus,  in  November,  1919,  Mr.  W.  H.  Lyuh, 
a member  of  the  Korean  Provisional  Government,  and 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Korean  Independence  Move- 
ment, was  called  to  Japan  to  confer  with  the  Japanese 
authorities  informally  on  the  Korean  situation. 

Mr.  Lyuh  went  to  Japan  from  China  on  the  guaran- 
tee of  the  Japanese  Government  that  his  travel  through 
Japan  and  Korea  would  not  be  interfered  with  by  the 
Japanese  authorities.  He  addressed  a group  of  press 
men  and  officials  at  the  Imperial  Hotel,  Tokyo,  on  No- 
vember 26,  then  he  called  on  Mr.  Koga,  Chief  of  the 
Colonial  Bureau;  General  Tanaka,  Minister  of  War; 
Dr.  Rentaro  Midzuno,  Civil  Administrator  of  Korea; 
Mr.  Tokonami,  Home  Minister;  Mr.  Noda,  Minister 
of  Communication,  and  other  Cabinet  Ministers.  In 
his  conferences  with  them,  Mr.  Lyuh  outlined  the  aims 
and  aspirations  of  the  Korean  people,  and  the  advisa- 
bility on  the  part  of  Japan  to  restore  the  independence 
of  Korea.  In  answer  to  a question  as  to  whether 
Korea  was  strong  enough  to  stand  alone*  without  Japa- 
nese protection,  Mr.  Lyuh  said  that  Korea  had  no 
foes  to  fear;  China  was  extremely  friendly  with  her, 
and  the  Koreans  could  enter  into  an  understanding 
with  the  Japanese,  the  understanding  to  be  of  a kind 


314 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


that  would  give  mutual  benefits  towards  the  protection 
of  each  other.  In  the  course  of  private  conversation, 
Mr.  Lyuh  said  that  the  Korean  Provisional  Govern- 
ment could  make  no  compromise  or  understanding 
whereby  the  full  independence  of  Korea  was  not  recog- 
nized. “We  have  no  arms,”  he  said,  “ we  are  defense- 
less, but  we  believe  in  our  Cause.  And,  while  not  re- 
sorting to  force  in  any  form  or  manner,  we  will  not 
lose  sight  of  the  main  principle  on  which  we  have 
founded  the  present  Provisional  Government — of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  by  the  people.  The  power  of 
faith  in  a good  cause  is  great,  and  to  this  we  pin  our 
trust.”  ‘ 

The  Japanese  entertained  him  lavishly;  they  were 
extremely  solicitous  in  looking  after  his  wants.  And 
there  were  hints  that  if  the  Koreans  should  change 
their  cry  from  one  of  independence  to  one  of  self- 
government  under  Japanese  rule,  there  were  several 
good  positions  in  Korea,  from  which  Mr.  Lyuh  could 
make  a selection.  But  all  this  had  no  effect  upon  this 
sturdy  nationalist,  and  the  scheme  of  the  Japanese 
Government,  to  bring  about  conciliation  in  Korea  by 
bribing  Korean  leaders,  failed.  As  a consequence,  the 
Japanese  vehemently  attacked  their  Government  for 
having  Mr.  Lyuh  in  Japan.  The  native  press,  includ- 
ing The  Yamato,  The  Chugwai,  and  The  Asahi,  ac- 
cused their  Government  as  fostering  sedition  by  “ tem- 
porizing with  rebels.”  A public  meeting  for  the  im- 
peachment of  the  present  Government,  because  of  the 

’A  complete  description  of  Ljiih’s  mission  given  in  Japan 
Advertiser,  November  27,  1919. 


CONCLUSION 


316 


Lyuh  affair,  arranged  by  the  Kaiko  Monseki  Domei- 
kai  (Association  for  the  Impeachment  of  the  Govern- 
ment for  Diplomatic  Blunders),  was  held  in  Tokyo  on 
December  18,  at  which  speakers  dubbed  the  present 
Government  “ a bad  Cabinet  ” and  described  Lyuh's 
visit  in  Tokyo  as  “ the  most  outrageous  incident  in  the 
annals  of  Japan.”  * 

The  Japanese  Government  did  not  quite  fulfill  its 
promise  with  regard  to  Mr.  Lyuh’s  trip,  as  he  was  not 
allowed  to  cross  over  to  Korea  from  Japan.  There- 
fore, he  came  back  to  China  direct  from  Shimonoseki. 
The  Japanese  excuse  in  not  permitting  him  to  go 
through  Korea  was  that  they  feared  another  demon- 
stration if  he  landed  on  Korean  soil.  In  relating  his 
visit  to  Japan,  Mr.  Lyuh  said: 

The  only  hopeful  sig^  I obtained  in  Japan  was  when 
Mr.  Tanaka,  Minister  of  War,  admitted  that  Japan  had 
made  some  mistakes  in  her  Korean  policy  of  the  last  ten 
years.  That  gave  me  courage. 

I asked  him  what  was  to  be  done,  and  he  said  the  Japa- 
nese were  trying  to  correct  their  former  errors.  I asked 
him  how  they  sought  to  do  this,  but  he  either  couldn’t  or 
wouldn’t  elucidate.  I say  that  when  he  made  the  admis- 
sion I regarded  it  as  hopeful. 

Any  hope  that  might  have  been  in  my  breast  was  dissi- 
pated a few  moments  later,  when  I ascertained  that  Japan 
is  sending  more  troops  to  Korea,  and  that  she  is  swelling 
her  Korean  police  force  from  25,000  to  50,000  men,  sta- 
tioning them  in  every  village,  no  matter  how  small. 

‘Translation  of  press  comments  and  the  description  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Kaiko  Monseki  Domei-kai  given  in  the  Japan 
Chronicle,  December  25,  1919. 


316 


THE  CASE  OF  KOEEA 


Japan  recognized  that  the  presence  of  soldiers  on  police 
duty  was  resented  by  the  Korean  people.  So  she  pre- 
tended to  withdraw  her  soldiers,  leaving  only  the  police. 
Instead,  she  had  her  soldiers  change  from  army  to  police 
uniforms,  and  is  sending  more  troops  to  Korea.  I am 
convinced  that  Japan  is  awake  to  the  seriousness  of  the 
Korean  situation.  I am  convinced,  also,  that  Japan  is 
worried.* 

According  to  Japanese  official  statistics,  10,592  po- 
litical prisoners  have  been  flogged,  631  have  met  death, 
5,156  have  been  imprisoned,  and  11,831  are  still  await- 
ing their  trial  nearly  two  years  after  their  arrest. 
These  figures  being  “ official  ” have  the  usual  Japanese 
quality  of  inaccuracy  in  favour  of  themselves.  It  is  a 
known  fact  that  physicians,  generally,  whether  in  hos- 
pitals or  in  homes,  are  not  permitted  to  give  certificates 
of  death  showing  that  death  resulted  from  flogging  or 
other  official  punishment.  For  instance,  Korean  sta- 
tistics as  to  those  killed  and  executed  in  Korea  alone, 
not  including  those  in  Manchuria,  is  over  7,000.  No 
doubt,  just  as  great  a discrepancy  would  appear  in 
the  balance  of  the  Japanese  statistical  data.  How- 
ever, even  the official  ” statistics  of  Japan  tell  a 
sad  story  that  has  in  its  making  a volume  of  gruesome 
detail.  The  Japanese  authorities  are  keenly  watching 
the  Independence  Movement  pending  the  trial  and  sen- 
tence of  the  leaders.  If  the  movement  subsides,  the 
official  vengeance  of  the  Japanese  Government  will  be 
wreaked  upon  such  eminent  leaders  as  Son  Byung-hi, 
Kil  Sun-chu  and  Choy  Nam-sun.  On  the  other  hand, 
’ From  the  China  Press,  December  I2,  1919. 


CONCLUSION 


317 


if  the  movement  is  kept  up,  these  leaders  will  be  given 
light  sentences  or  released  entirely  as  a sop  to  the 
people. 

To  the  leaders  themselves  it  is  immaterial  what  the 
Japanese  may  do.  They  led  the  movement,  knowing 
the  horrible  fate  that  was  before  them.  They  were 
not  unaware  of  the  Japanese  prison  tortures  and  death 
that  their  predecessors  encountered.  With  magnifi- 
cent courage  and  unflinching  heroism,  they  blazed  the 
trail  and  organized  the  movement,  so  that  the  work 
may  be  carried  on  even  after  their  death.  The  rank 
and  file  feel  the  highest  honour  that  they  can  pay  to 
their  leaders,  both  dead  and  living,  is  to  carry  out  their 
wish  and  continue  the  work  that  they  have  so  nobly 
started  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1919.  Thus  the  In- 
dependence Movement  is  stronger  to-day  than  it  was  in 
the  spring  of  1919.  On  the  first  anniversary  of  the 
Korean  Declaration  of  Independence,  there  was  a uni- 
versal celebration  of  the  occasion  among  the  Koreans 
throughout  the  world.  The  observance  was  not 
marked  by  firecrackers  and  high-sounding  speech,  but 
signalized  by  deep  consecration  of  their  lives  to  the 
Cause  of  the  freedom  of  their  fatherland. 

In  Korea  the  police  and  the  soldiers  took  due  pre- 
caution to  prevent  all  possible  demonstrations.  As  a 
consequence,  open  meetings  were  not  held,  but  the  peo- 
ple observed  the  occasion  in  their  homes  as  the  “ Foun- 
dation Day  of  Korean  Liberty.”  But  to  the  more  im- 
pulsive students,  gleaming  bayonets  had  little  meaning, 
for  even  in  the  midst  of  the  cordon  of  soldiers,  an  open 
demonstration  was  held  in  Pai  Jai  College,  Seoul. 


318 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


Consequently  the  school  was  closed.  In  Japan  the 
Koreans  had  their  celebration  meeting  despite  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  police  with  the  result  that  fifty  Korean 
students  in  Tokyo  were  jailed. 

The  Japanese  Government  seems  to  be  determined 
to  stamp  out  the  Korean  independence  movement 
everywhere.  The  Korean  residents  in  Manchuria, 
like  their  countrymen  all  over  the  world,  naturally 
sympathized  with  the  movement.  The  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment looked  upon  these  Korean  settlements  under 
Chinese  jurisdiction  as  a source  of  trouble  in  the 
future.  They  must  be  extirpated.  The  Tokyo  Gov- 
ernment, in  the  fall  of  1920,  decided  on  the  drastic 
policy  of  wiping  out  the  Korean  communities  in 
Manchuria  in  order  to  nip  in  the  bud  the  Korean  inde- 
pendence movement  in  Chinese  territory.  Against  the 
strongest  protest  of  the  Chinese  Government,  more 
than  15,000  soldiers  were  sent  under  orders  to 
Chientao  (Kando  in  Korean),  Manchuria,  to  stamp 
out  the  incipient  movement  for  Korean  freedom.’  The 
atrocities  committed  by  these  soldiers  equal  in  severity 
and  horror  some  of  the  worst  reported  cases  in  Korea 
during  the  early  part  of  the  independence  movement.’ 
The  soldiers  not  only  killed  the  people,  but  system- 
atically burned  the  villages,  devastated  the  fields  and 
destroyed  the  grain  supply.  Figures  of  the  destruction 


‘The  Japanese  Government  admitted  sending  only  5,000  sol- 
diers. 

’ For  full  description,  see  “ Korean  Massacres  Testified  by 
British  Missionaries,”  China  Press  (Shanghai),  December  8, 
1920. 


CONCLUSION 


319 


and  massacre  in  Chientao,  carried  on  by  Japanese  sol- 
diers during  October  and  November,  1920,  are  now 
available.  They  show  that  3,128  inhabitants  were 
murdered;  2,404  homes,  31  schools,  10  churches,  and 
818,620  bushels  of  grain  were  burned.* 

The  latest  report  coming  from  the  Far  East,  as  this 
last  chapter  is  being  written,  is  the  Associated  Press 
dispatch  of  February  4,  1921,  which  announces  the 
decision  of  the  Japanese  Government  to  reenforce  its 
garrisons  in  Korea  with  another  division.  This  means 
continued  suppression  and  more  atrocities. 

What  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  all  this,  one  may  ask. 
Will  Japan  ever  be  able  to  solve  the  problem  ? “ Every 
day  the  solution  is  becoming  more  difficult,”  says  Fra- 
zier Hunt,  in  his  dispatch  from  Seoul.  “ By  imme- 
diate and  dramatic  reforms  and  generous  gifts  of 
semi-independence,  she  might  sidetrack  this  Korean 
Independence  revolution,  but  one  is  wasting  time  even 
to  think  about  this  because  present-day  Japan  doesn’t 
talk  this  language  of  democracy  and  international  jus- 
tice and  fair  play.  Japan’s  promised  reforms  are  not 
even  keeping  pace  with  the  revolutionary  movement.” 
Even  though  all  these  reforms  were  granted  to 
Korea,  and  Japan  were  to  have  no  more  control  over 
Korea  than  England  has  over  Canada  or  Australia,  the 
Koreans  would  not  be  satisfied.  They  evidently 
intend  to  continue  the  revolution  until  their  coun- 
try is  completely  free  from  Japanese  domina- 
tion. They  are  roughly  awakened,  under  the 
cruel  blows  of  their  alien  masters,  to  a sense  of  na- 
’New  York  Tribune,  February  7,  1921. 


320 


THE  CASE  OF  KOREA 


tional  consciousness  and  racial  solidarity.  This  yearn- 
ing for  political  freedom  is  coupled  with  the  sudden 
setting  off  of  all  the  accumulated  hate,  cruelty,  tyranny 
and  injustice  of  Japanese  domination  that  have  been 
practised  during  the  ten  years  since  the  annexation.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  even  the  adroit  Japan  cannot 
hammer  the  swords  into  welcome  plowshares  after 
once  the  sword  has  been  stained  with  blood.  Her  task 
in  Korea  is  a hopeless  one.  So  long  as  there  is  a Ko- 
rean left,  there  will  be  the  cry  for  independence.  Will 
Japan  continue  to  use  bayonets  to  crush  the  movement? 
Will  this  circle  of  sullen  and  passive  resistance  on  the 
part  of  an  unarmed  and  defenseless  people,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  organized  military  suppression,  on  the 
other,  be  carried  to  the  point  of  racial  extinction  of  the 
Korean  people?  Can  Japan  succeed  in  annihilating 
the  Korean  race — 20,000,000  people? 

The  Korean  cause  may  not  be  so  hopeless  as  it  seems 
to  a casual  observer.  Nothing  in  human  affairs  is  im- 
possible in  this  pregnant  century.  Ten  years  ago,  no 
one  ever  dreamed  that  Poland  would  gain  her  inde- 
pendence or  that  the  Croats  and  Slovenes  would  attain 
their  national  aspirations  in  the  near  future.  Japan’s 
present  possession  of  superior  military  strength  is  no 
lasting  reason  that  she  will  always  hold  her  dominant 
position  in  Asia.  The  Far  Eastern  question  is  an  un- 
settled one,  and  Japan  is  playing  a lone  hand.  The 
time  may  come  when  the  civilized  world  will  fully 
awaken  to  Japanese  methods  in  Asia  and  demand  an 
accounting  and  settlement  on  the  basis  of  justice  and 
fair  play. 


CONCLUSION 


321 


Whatever  may  happen  in  the  political  arena  of  the 
Far  East,  the  Korean  people,  though  disarmed  and  de- 
fenseless, will  continue  the  struggle  for  life  and  liberty 
with  undaunted  courage  and  unswerving  optimism 
which  form  a peculiar  trait  of  their  national  character ; 
they  will  continue 

“To  hope,  till  hope  creates 
From  its  own  wreck  the  thing  it  contemplates.’- 


APPENDICES 


I 

THE  TRIAL  OF  VISCOUNT  MIURA 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  findings  of  the 
Japanese  Court  of  Preliminary  Inquiries,  at  the  trial  of 
Viscount  Miura  and  his  associates  for  the  murder  of  the 
Queen  of  Korea: 

Okamoto  Rj-unosuke,  born  the  8th  month  of  the  5th 
year  of  Kaei  (1852),  Adviser  to  the  Korean  Departments 
of  War  and  of  the  Household,  shizoku  of  Usu,  Saiga 
Mura,  Umibe  Gun,  Wakayama  Ken. 

Miura  Goro,  Viscount,  Sho  Sammi,  first-class  Order, 
Lieutenant-General  (first  reserve),  born  11th  month 
3rd  year  Kokwa  (1846),  kwazoku  of  Nakotomisaka 
Cho,  Koishikawa  ku,  Tokyo  Shi,  Tokyo  Fu. 

Sugimura  Fukashi,  Sho  Rokui,  First  Secretary  of 
Legation,  born  1st  month  1st  year  Kaei  (1848),  heimin 
of  Suga  Cho,  Yotsuyaku,  Tokyo  Shi,  Tok>’o  Fu,  and 
forty-five  others. 

Having,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  Public  Proc- 
urator, conducted  preliminary  examinations  in  the  case  of  mur- 
der and  sedition  brought  against  the  above-mentioned  Okamoto 
Rj-unosuke  and  forty-seven  others,  and  that  of  wilful  homicide 
brought  against  the  afore-mentioned  Hirayama  Iwawo,  we  find 
as  follows: 

The  accused,  Miura  Goro,  assumed  his  official  duties  as  His 
Imperial  Majesty’s  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary at  Seoul  on  the  ist  September,  the  28th  year  of 
Meiji  (1895).  According  to  his  observations,  things  in  Korea 

322 


APPENDICES 


323 


were  tending  in  a wrong  direction.  The  Court  (Royal  House  of 
Korea)  was  daily  growing  more  and  more  arbitrary,  and  at- 
tempting wanton  interference  with  the  conduct  of  State  affairs. 
Disorder  and  confusion  were  in  this  way  introduced  into  the 
system  of  administration  that  had  just  been  reorganized  under 
the  guidance  and  advice  of  the  Imperial  Government  (Japan). 
The  Court  went  so  far  in  turning  its  back  on  Japan  that  a 
project  was  mooted  for  disbanding  the  Kunrentai  troops,  drilled 
by  Japanese  officers,  and  punishing  their  officers.  Moreover,  a 
report  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  said  Miura  that  the  Court 
had  under  contemplation  a scheme  for  usurping  all  political 
power  by  degrading  some  and  killing  others  of  the  Cabinet 
Ministers  suspected  of  devotion  to  the  cause  of  progress  and 
independence.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  was  greatly  per- 
turbed, inasmuch  as  he  thought  that  the  attitude  assumed  by  the 
Court  not  only  showed  remarkable  ingratitude  towards  this 
country  (Japan)  which  had  spent  labour  and  money  for  the  sake 
of  Korea,  but  was  also  calculated  to  thwart  the  work  of  internal 
reform  and  jeopardize  the  independence  of  the  Kingdom.  The 
policy  pursued  by  the  Court  was  consequently  considered  to  be 
injurious  to  Korea,  as  well  as  prejudicial,  in  no  small  degree,  to 
the  interests  of  this  country.  The  accused  felt  it  to  be  of 
urgent  importance  to  apply  an  effective  remedy  to  this  state  of 
things,  so  as  on  the  one  hand  to  secure  the  independence  of  the 
Korean  Kingdom,  and,  on  the  other,  to  maintain  the  prestige  of 
this  Empire  in  that  country.  While  thoughts  like  these  agitated 
his  mind,  he  was  secretly  approached  by  the  Tai  Won  Kun  with 
a request  for  assistance,  the  Prince  being  indignant  at  the  un- 
toward turn  that  events  were  taking,  and  having  determined  to 
undertake  the  reform  of  the  Court  and  thus  discharge  his  duty 
of  advising  the  King.  The  accused  then  held  at  the  Legation  a 
conference  with  Sugimura  Fukashi  and  Okamoto  Ryunosuke, 
on  the  3rd  October  last.  The  decision  arrived  at  on  that  occa- 
sion was  that  assistance  should  be  rendered  to  the  Tai  Won 
Kun’s  entry  into  the  palace  by  making  use  of  the  Kunrentai, 
who,  being  hated  by  the  Court,  felt  themselves  in  danger, 
and  of  the  young  men  who  deeply  lamented  the  course  of 
events,  and  also  by  causing  the  Japanese  troops  stationed  in 
Seoul  to  offer  their  support  to  the  enterprise.  It  was  further 
resolved  that  this  opportunity  should  be  availed  of  for  taking 
the  life  of  the  Queen,  who  exercised  overwhelming  influ- 
ence in  the  Court.  They  at  the  same  time  thought  it  neces- 


324 


APPENDICES 


sary  to  provide  against  the  possible  danger  of  the  Tai  Won 
Kun’s  interfering  with  the  conduct  of  State  affairs  in  the 
future — an  interferencd  that  might  prove  of  a more  evil  char- 
acter than  that  which  it  was  now  sought  to  overturn.  To 
this  end,  a document  containing  pledges  required  of  the  Tai 
Won  Kun  on  four  points  was  drawn  by  Sugimura  Fukashi. 
The  document  was  carried  to  the  country  residence  of  the 
Tai  Won  Kun  at  Kong-tok-ri  on  the  15th  of  the  month  by 
Okamoto  Ryunosuke,  the  latter  being  on  intimate  terms  with 
His  Highness.  After  informing  the  Tai  Won  Kun  that  the 
turn  of  events  demanded  His  Highness’s  intervention  once 
more,  Okamoto  presented  the  note  to  the  Prince,  saying 
that  it  embodied  what  Minister  Miura  expected  from  him. 
The  Tai  Won  Kun,  together  with  his  son  and  grandson, 
gladly  assented  to  the  conditions  proposed  and  also  wrote  a 
letter  guaranteeing  his  good  faith.  Miura  Goro  and  others 
decided  to  carry  out  the  concerted  plan  by  the  middle  of  the 
month.  Fearing  lest  Okamoto’s  visit  to  Kong-tok-ri  (the  Tai 
Won  Kun’s  residence)  should  excite  suspicion  and  lead  to 
the  exposure  of  their  plan,  it  was  given  out  that  he  had  pro- 
ceeded thither  simply  for  the  purpose  of  taking  leave  of  the 
Prince  before  departing  from  home,  and  to  impart  an  appear- 
ance of  probability  to  this  report  it  was  decided  that  Oka- 
moto should  leave  Seoul  for  Ninsen  (Inchhon)  and  he  took 
his  departure  from  the  capital  on  the  6th.  On  the  following 
day.  An  Keiju,  the  Korean  Minister  of  State  for  War,  visited 
the  Japanese  Legation  by  order  of  the  Court.  Referring  to 
the  projected  disbanding  of  the  Kunrentai  troops,  he  asked 
the  Japanese  Minister’s  views  on  the  subject.  It  was  now 
evident  that  the  moment  had  arrived,  and  that  no  more  delay 
should  be  made.  Miura  Goro  and  Sugimura  Fukashi  conse- 
quently determined  to  carry  out  the  plot  on  the  night  of  that 
very  day.  On  the  one  hand  a telegram  was  sent  to  Okamoto 
requesting  him  to  come  back  to  Seoul  at  once,  and  on  the 
other  they  delivered  to  Horiguchi  Kumaichi  a paper  contain- 
ing a detailed  programme  concerning  the  entry  of  the  Tai 
Won  Kun  into  the  palace,  and  caused  him  to  meet  Okamoto 
at  Yong-san  so  that  they  might  proceed  to  enter  the  palace. 
Miura  Goro  further  issued  instructions  to  Umayabara  Muhon, 
Commander  of  the  Japanese  Battalion  in  Seoul,  ordering  him 
to  facilitate  the  Tai  Won  Kun’s  entry  into  the  palace  by 
directing  the  disposition  of  the  Kunrentai  troops,  and  by 


APPENDICES 


326 


calling  out  the  Imperial  force  for  their  support.  Miura  also 
summoned  the  accused,  Adachi  Kenzo  and  Kunitomo  Shi- 
geakira,  and  requested  them  to  collect  their  friends,  meeting 
Okamoto  at  Yong-san,  and  act  as  the  Tai  Won  Kun’s  body- 
guard on  the  occasion  of  His  Highness’s  entrance  into  the 
palace.  Miura  told  them  that  on  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prise depended  the  eradication  of  the  evils  that  had  done  so 
much  mischief  in  the  Kingdom  for  the  past  twenty  years, 
and  instigated  them  to  dispatch  the  Queen  when  they  entered 
the  palace.  Miura  ordered  the  accused,  Ogiwara  Hidejiro,  to 
proceed  to  Yong-san,  at  the  head  of  the  police  force  under 
him,  and  after  consultation  with  Okamoto  to  take  such  step? 
as  might  be  necessary  to  expedite  the  Tai  Won  Kun’s  entry 
into  the  palace. 

The  accused,  Sugimura  Fukashi,  summoned  Suzuki  Shige- 
moto  and  Asayama  Kenzo  to  the  Legation,  and  after  acquaint- 
ing them  with  the  projected  enterprise,  directed  the  former  to 
send  the  accused,  Suzuki  Junken,  to  Yong-san  to  act  as  inter- 
preter, and  the  latter  to  carry  the  news  to  a Korean  named 
Li  Shukwei,  who  was  known  to  be  a warm  advocate  of  the 
Tai  Won  Kun’s  return  to  the  palace.  Sugimura  further  drew 
up  a manifesto  explaining  the  reason  of  the  Tai  Won  Kun’s 
entry  into  the  palace,  and  charged  Ogiwara  Hidejiro  to  de- 
liver it  to  Horiguchi  Kumaichi. 

The  accused,  Horiguchi  Kumaichi,  at  once  departed  for 
Yong-san  on  horseback.  Ogiwara  Hidejiro  issued  orders  to 
the  policemen  that  were  off  duty  to  put  on  civilian  dress, 
provide  themselves  with  swords  and  proceed  to  Yong-san. 
Ogiwara  himself  also  went  to  the  same  place. 

Thither  also  repaired  by  his  order  the  accused,  Watanabe 
Takajiro,  Nariai  Kishiro,  Oda  Yoshimitsu,  Kiwaki  Sukunorin, 
and  Sakai  Masataro. 

The  accused,  Yokowo  Yutaro,  joined  the  party  at  Yong- 
san.  Asayama  Kenzo  saw  Li  Shukwei,  and  informed  him  of 
the  projected  enterprise  against  the  palace  at  night.  Having 
ascertained  that  Li  had  then  collected  a few  other  Koreans 
and  proceeded  towards  Kong-tok-ri,  Asayama  at  once  left  for 
Yong-san.  Sukuzi  Shigemoto  went  to  Yong-san  in  company 
with  Sukuzi  Junken.  The  accused,  Adachi  Kenzo  and  Kuni- 
tomo Shigeakira,  at  the  instigation  of  Miura,  decided  to  mur- 
der the  Queen,  and  took  steps  for  collecting  accomplices. 
The  accused,  Hirayama  Iwabiko,  Sassa  Masayuki,  Matsu- 


326 


APPENDICES 


mura  Tatsuki,  Sasaki  Tadasu,  Ushijima  Hidewo,  Kobaya- 
kawa  Hidewo,  Miyazumi  Yuki,  Sato  Keita,  Sawamura  Masao, 
Katano  Takewo,  Fuji  Masashira,  Hirata  Shizen,  Kikuchi 
Kenjo,  Yoshida  Toraokichi,  Nakamura  Takewo,  Namba  Haru- 
kichi,  Terasaki  Taikichi,  lyuri  Kakichi,  Tanaka  Kendo,  Ku- 
mabe  Yonekichi,  Tsukinari  Taru,  Yamada  Ressei,  Sase  Kuma- 
tetsu,  and  Shibaya  Kotoji,  responded  to  the  call  of  Adachi 
Kenzo  and  Kunitomo  Shigeakira  by  Miura’s  order  to  act  as 
bodyguard  to  the  Tai  Won  Kun  on  the  occasion  of  his  entry 
to  the  palace.  Hirayama  Iwahiko  and  more  than  ten  others 
were  directed  by  Adachi  Kenzo,  Kunitomo  Shigeakira,  and 
others  to  do  away  with  the  Queen,  and  they  resolved  to 
follow  the  advice.  The  others,  who  were  not  admitted  into 
this  secret  but  who  joined  the  party  from  mere  curiosity, 
also  carried  weapons.  With  the  exception  of  Kunitomo 
Shigeakira,  Tsukinari  Taru,  and  two  others,  all  the  accused 
mentioned  above  went  to  Yong-san  in  company  with  Adachi 
Kenzo. 

The  accused,  Okamoto  Ryunosuke,  on  receipt  of  a telegram 
stating  that  time  was  urgent,  at  once  left  Ninsen  for  Seoul. 
Being  informed  on  his  way,  about  midnight,  that  Horiguchi 
Kumaichi  was  waiting  for  him  at  Mapho,  he  proceeded 
thither  and  met  the  persons  assembled  there.  There  he  re- 
ceived from  Horiguchi  Kumaichi  a letter  from  Miura  Goro, 
the  draft  manifesto  already  alluded  to,  and  other  documents. 
After  he  had  consulted  with  two  or  three  others  about  the 
method  of  effecting  an  entry  into  the  palace,  the  whole  party 
started  for  Kong-tok-ri,with  Okamoto  as  their  leader.  At  about 
3 A.  M.  on  the  8th  they  left  Kong-tok-ri,  and  escorting  the  Tai 
Won  Kun’s  palanquin,  together  with  Li  Shukwei  and  other 
Koreans.  When  on  the  point  of  departure,  Okamoto  assem- 
bled the  whole  party  outside  the  front  gate  of  the  Prince’s 
residence,  declaring  that  on  entering  the  palace  the  “ fox  ” 
should  be  dealt  with  according  as  exigency  might  require, 
the  obvious  purport  of  this  declaration  being  to  instigate  his 
followers  to  murder  Her  Majesty  the  Queen.  As  the  result 
of  this  declaration  Sakai  Masataro  and  a few  others,  who  had 
not  yet  been  initiated  into  the  secret,  resolved  to  act  in  accord- 
ance with  the  suggestion.  Then  slowly  proceeding  towards 
Seoul,  the  party  met  the  Kunrentai  troops  outside  the  west 
gate  of  the  capital,  where  they  waited  some  time  for  the 
arrival  of  the  Japanese  troops. 


APPENDICES 


327 


With  the  Kunrentai  as  vanguard,  the  party  then  proceeded 
towards  the  palace  at  a more  rapid  rate.  On  the  way  they 
were  joined  by  Kunitomo  Shigeakira,  Tsukinari  Taru,  Ya- 
mada  Ressei,  Sase  Kumatetsu,  and  Shibuya  Katoji.  The  ac- 
cused, Hasumoto,  Yasumaru,  and  Oura  Shigehiko,  also  joined 
the  party,  having  been  requested  by  Umagabara  Muhon  to 
accompany  as  interpreters  the  military  officers  charged  with 
the  supervision  of  the  Kunrentai  troops.  About  dawn  the 
whole  party  entered  the  palace  through  the  Kwang-hwa  Gate, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  the  inner  chambers. 

Notwithstanding  these  facts,  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence 
to  prove  that  any  of  the  accused  actually  committed  the 
crime  originally  meditated  by  them.  Neither  is  there  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  establish  the  charge  that  Hirayama  Iwahiko 
killed  Li  Koshoku,  the  Korean  Minister  of  the  Household, 
in  front  of  the  Kon-Chong  palace. 

As  to  the  accused,  Shiba  Shiro,  Osaki  Masakichi,  Yoshida 
Hanji,  Mayeda  Shunzo,  Hirayama  Katsukuma,  and  Hiraishi 
Yoshitaro,  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  they 
were  in  any  way  connected  with  the  affair. 

For  these  reasons  the  accused,  each  and  all,  are  hereby  dis- 
charged in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  article  165  of  the 
Code  of  Criminal  Procedure.  The  accused,  Miura  Goro, 
Sugimura  Fukashi,  Okamoto  Ryunosuke,  Adachi  Kenzo, 
Kunitomo  Shigeakira,  Terasaki  Taikichi,  Hirayama  Iwabiko, 
Nakamura  Takewo,  Fuji  Masashira,  lyuri  Kakichi,  Kiwaki 
Sukenori,  and  Sokoi  Masutaro,  are  hereby  released  from  con- 
finement. The  documents  and  other  articles  seized  in  con- 
nection with  this  case  are  restored  to  their  respective  owners. 

Given  at  the  Hiroshima  Local  Court  by 

Yoshida  Yoshihide, 
Judge  of  Preliminary  Enquiry; 

Tamura  Yoshiharu, 
Clerk  of  the  Court. 

Dated,  20th  day  of  the  1st  month  of  29th  year  of  Meiji. 

This  copy  has  been  taken  from  the  original  text. — Clerk  of  the 
Local  Court  of  Hiroshima. 


328 


APPENDICES 


II 

(a)  TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  KOREA 

Peace,  Amity,  Commerce,  and  Navigation 

Signed  at  Yin-Chuen,  May  22,  1882. 

Ratification  advised  by  the  United  States  Senate, 
January  9,  1883. 

Ratified  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Febru- 
ary 13,  1883. 

Ratifications  exchanged  at  Seoul,  May  19,  1883. 

Proclaimed,  June  4,  1883. 

TRANSCRIPT  OF  TREATY 
A Proclamation 

By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Whereas  a treaty  of  peace  and  amity  and  commerce 
and  navigation  between  the  United  States  of  America 
and  the  Kingdom  of  Korea  or  Chosen  was  concluded  on 
the  twenty-second  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  eighty-two,  the  original  of  which  treaty  being 
in  the  English  and  Chinese  languages  is  word  for  word 
as  follows: 

Treaty  of  Amity  and  Commerce 

The  United  States  of  America  and  the  Kingdom  of 
Chosen,  being  sincerely  desirous  of  establishing  perma- 
nent relations  of  amity  and  friendship  between  their  re- 
spective peoples,  have  to  this  end  appointed,  that  is  to 
say : The  President  of  the  United  States,  R.  W.  Shufeldt, 
Commodore,  U.  S.  Navy,  as  his  Commissioner  Plenipo- 
tentiary; and  His  Majesty,  the  King  of  Chosen,  Shin 
Chen,  President  of  the  Royal  Cabinet,  Chin  Hong-chi, 


APPENDICES 


329 


Member  of  the  Royal  Cabinet,  as  his  Commissioners 
Plenipotentiary;  who  having  reciprocally  examined  their 
respective  full  powers,  which  have  been  found  to  be  in 
due  form,  have  agreed  upon  the  several  following  Ar- 
ticles : 

Article  I 

There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  friendship  between 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  King  of 
Chosen  and  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  their  respective 
Governments. 

If  other  Powers  deal  unjustly  or  oppressively  with 
either  Government,  the  other  will  exert  their  good  offices, 
on  being  informed  of  the  case,  to  bring  about  an  amicable 
arrangement,  thus  showing  their  friendly  feelings. 

Article  II 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
merce, the  high  contracting  Powers  may  each  appoint 
diplomatic  representatives  to  reside  at  the  Court  of  the 
other,  and  may  each  appoint  consular  representatives  at 
the  ports  of  the  other  which  are  open  to  foreign  com- 
merce, at  their  own  convenience. 

These  officials  shall  have  relations  with  the  correspond- 
ing local  authorities  of  equal  rank  upon  a basis  of  mutual 
equality. 

The  Diplomatic  and  Consular  representatives  of  the 
two  Governments  shall  receive  mutually  all  the  privileges, 
rights,  and  immunities,  without  discrimination,  which  are 
accorded  to  the  same  classes  of  representatives  from  the 
most  favoured  nation. 

Consuls  shall  exercise  their  functions  only  on  receipt 
of  an  exequatur  from  the  Government  to  which  they  are 
accredited.  Consular  authorities  shall  be  bona  fide  offi- 
cials. No  merchants  shall  be  permitted  to  e.xercise  the 
duties  of  the  office,  nor  shall  consular  officers  be  allowed 
to  engage  in  trade.  At  ports  to  which  no  consular  rep- 


330 


APPENDICES 


resentatives  have  been  appointed,  the  consuls  of  other 
Powers  may  be  invited  to  act,  provided  that  no  merchant 
shall  be  allowed  to  assume  consular  functions,  or  the  pro- 
visions of  this  treaty  may,  in  such  cases,  be  enforced  by 
the  local  authorities. 

If  consular  representatives  of  the  United  States  in 
Chosen  conduct  their  business  in  an  improper  manner, 
their  exequatur  may  be  revoked,  subject  to  the  approval, 
previously  obtained,  of  the  diplomatic  representative  of 
the  United  States. 


Article  III 

Whenever  United  States  vessels,  either  because  of 
stress  of  weather  or  by  want  of  fuel  or  provisions,  can- 
not reach  the  nearest  open  port  in  Chosen,  they  may  enter 
any  port  or  harbour  either  to  take  refuge  therein  or  to  get 
supplies  of  wood,  coal,  and  other  necessaries,  or  to  make 
repairs,  the  expenses  incurred  thereby  being  defrayed  by 
the  ship’s  master.  In  such  event,  the  officers  and  people 
of  the  locality  shall  display  their  sympathy  by  rendering 
full  assistance,  and  their  liberality  by  furnishing  the  ne- 
cessities required. 

If  a United  States  vessel  carries  on  a clandestine  trade 
at  a port  not  open  to  foreign  commerce,  such  vessel,  with 
her  cargo,  shall  be  seized  and  confiscated. 

If  a United  States  vessel  be  wrecked  on  the  coast  of 
Chosen,  the  local  authorities,  on  being  informed  of  the 
occurrence,  shall  immediately  render  assistance  to  the 
crew,  provide  for  their  present  necessities,  and  take  the 
measures  necessary  for  the  salvage  of  the  ship  and  the 
preservation  of  her  cargo.  They  shall  also  bring  the 
matter  to  the  knowledge  of  the  nearest  consular  repre- 
sentative of  the  United  States,  in  order  that  steps  may  be 
taken  to  send  the  crew  home  and  to  save  the  ship  and 
cargo.  The  necessary  expenses  shall  be  defrayed  either 
by  the  ship’s  master  or  by  the  United  States. 


APPENDICES 


331 


Article  IV 

All  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Chosen, 
peaceably  attending  to  their  own  affairs,  shall  receive  and 
enjoy  for  themselves  and  everything  appertaining  to  them 
the  protection  of  the  local  authorities  of  the  Government 
of  Chosen,  who  shall  defend  them  from  all  insult  and 
injury  of  any  sort.  If  their  dwellings  or  property  be 
threatened  or  attacked  by  mobs,  incendiaries,  or  other 
violent  or  lawless  persons,  the  local  officers,  on  requisition 
of  the  Consul,  shall  immediately  dispatch  a military  force 
to  disperse  the  rioters,  apprehend  the  guilty  individuals, 
and  punish  them  with  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  law. 

Subjects  of  Chosen,  guilty  of  any  criminal  act  towards 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  punished  by  the 
authorities  of  Chosen  according  to  the  laws  of  Chosen ; 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  either  on  shore  or  in 
any  merchant  vessel,  who  may  insult,  trouble,  or  wound 
the  persons,  or  injure  the  property  of  the  people  of 
Chosen,  shall  be  arrested  and  punished  only  by  the  Consul 
or  other  public  functionary  of  the  United  States  thereto 
authorized,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

When  controversies  arise  in  the  Kingdom  of  Chosen, 
between  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  subjects  of  His 
Majesty,  which  need  to  be  examined  and  decided  by  the 
public  officers  of  the  two  nations,  it  is  agreed  between 
the  two  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Chosen 
that  such  cases  shall  be  tried  by  the  proper  official  of  the 
nationality  of  the  defendant,  according  to  the  laws  of  that 
nation. 

The  properly  authorized  official  of  the  plaintiff’s  na- 
tionality shall  be  freely  permitted  to  attend  the  trial,  and 
shall  be  treated  with  the  courtesy  due  his  position.  He 
shall  be  granted  all  proper  facilities  for  watching  the  pro- 
ceedings in  the  interests  of  justice.  If  he  so  desires,  he 
shall  have  the  right  to  present,  to  examine,  and  to  cross- 
examine  witnesses.  If  he  is  dissatisfied  with  the  pro- 


332 


APPENDICES 


ceedings,  he  shall  be  permitted  to  protest  against  them  in 
detail. 

It  is,  however,  mutually  agreed  and  understood  be- 
tween the  high  contracting  Powers,  that  whenever  the 
King  of  Chosen  shall  have  so  far  modified  and  reformed 
the  statutes  and  judicial  procedure  of  his  kingdom  that,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  United  States,  they  conform  to  the 
laws  and  course  of  justice  in  the  United  States,  the  right 
of  ex-territorial  jurisdiction  over  United  States  citizens 
in  Chosen  shall  be  abandoned,  and  thereafter  United 
State  citizens,  when  within  the  limits  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Chosen,  shall  be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  native 
authorities. 

Article  V 

Merchants  and  merchant  vessels  of  Chosen  visiting  the 
United  States  for  purposes  of  traffic,  shall  pay  duties  and 
tonnage  dues  and  all  fees  according  to  the  customs  regu- 
lation of  the  United  States,  but  no  higher  or  other  rates 
of  duties  and  tonnage  dues  shall  be  exacted  of  them  than 
are  levied  upon  citizens  of  the  United  States  or  upon 
citizens  or  subjects  of  the  most  favoured  nation. 

Merchants  and  merchant  vessels  of  the  United  States 
visiting  Chosen  for  purposes  of  traffic  shall  pay  duties 
upon  all  merchandise  imported  and  exported.  The  au- 
thority to  levy  duties  is  of  right  vested  in  the  Govern- 
ment of  Chosen.  The  tariff  of  duties  upon  exports  and 
imports,  together  with  the  customs  regulations  for  the 
prevention  of  smuggling  and  other  irregularities,  will  be 
fixed  by  the  authorities  of  Chosen  and  communicated  to 
the  proper  officials  of  the  United  States,  to  be  by  the 
latter  notified  to  their  citizens  and  duly  observed. 

It  is,  however,  agreed  in  the  first  instance,  as  a general 
measure,  that  the  tariff  upon  such  imports  as  are  articles 
of  daily  use  shall  not  exceed  an  ad  valorem  duty  of  ten 
per  centum ; that  the  tariff  upon  such  imports  as  are  lux- 
uries, as,  for  instance,  foreign  wines,  foreign  tobacco, 


APPENDICES 


333 


clocks  and  watches,  shall  not  exceed  an  ad  valorem  duty 
of  thirty  per  centum;  and  that  native  produce  exported 
shall  pay  a duty  not  to  exceed  five  per  centum  ad  valorem. 
And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  duty  upon  foreign  im- 
ports shall  be  paid  once  for  all  at  the  port  of  entry,  and 
that  no  other  dues,  duties,  fees,  taxes,  or  charges  of  any 
sort  shall  be  levied  upon  such  imports  either  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Chosen  or  at  the  ports. 

United  States  merchant  vessels  entering  the  ports  of 
Chosen  shall  pay  tonnage  dues  at  the  rate  of  five  mace 
per  ton,  payable  once  in  three  months  on  each  vessel,  ac- 
cording to  the  Chinese  calendar. 

Article  VI 

Subjects  of  Chosen  who  may  visit  the  United  States 
shall  be  permitted  to  reside  and  to  rent  premises,  purchase 
land,  or  to  construct  residences  or  warehouses,  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  They  shall  be  freely  permitted  to 
pursue  their  various  callings  and  avocations,  and  to  traffic 
in  all  merchandise,  raw  and  manufactured,  that  is  not 
declared  contraband  by  law. 

Citizens  of  the  United  States  who  may  resort  to  the 
ports  of  Chosen  which  are  open  to  foreign  commerce, 
shall  be  permitted  to  reside  at  such  open  ports  within  the 
limits  of  the  concessions,  and  to  lease  buildings  or  land 
or  to  construct  residences  or  warehouses  therein.  They 
shall  be  freely  permitted  to  pursue  their  various  callings 
and  avocations  within  the  limits  of  the  ports,  and  to 
traffic  in  all  merchandise,  raw  and  manufactured,  that  is 
not  declared  contraband  by  law. 

No  coercion  or  intimidation  in  the  acquisition  of  land 
or  buildings  shall  be  permitted,  and  the  land  rent  as  fixed 
by  the  authorities  of  Chosen  shall  be  paid.  And  it  is 
expressly  agreed  that  lands  so  acquired  in  the  open  ports 
of  Chosen  still  remain  an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom, 
and  that  all  rights  of  jurisdiction  over  persons  and  prop- 


334 


APPENDICES 


erty  within  such  areas  remain  vested  in  the  authorities  of 
Chosen,  except  in  so  far  as  such  rights  have  been  ex- 
pressly relinquished  by  this  treaty 

American  citizens  are  not  permitted  either  to  transport 
foreign  imports  to  the  interior  for  sale  or  to  proceed 
thither  to  purchase  native  produce.  Nor  are  they  per- 
mitted to  transport  native  produce  from  one  open  port  to 
another  open  port. 

Violations  of  this  rule  will  subject  such  merchandise  to 
confiscation,  and  the  merchant  offending  will  be  handed 
over  to  the  consular,  authorities  to  be  dealt  with. 

'Article  VII 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  of  Chosen 
mutually  agree  and  undertake  that  subjects  of  Chosen 
shall  not  be  permitted  to  import  opium  into  any  of  the 
ports  of  the  United  States,  and  citizens  of  the  United 
States  shall  not  be  permitted  to  import  opium  into  any  of 
the  open  ports  of  Chosen,  to  transport  it  from  one  open 
port  to  another  open  port  or  to  traffic  in  it  in  Chosen. 
This  absolute  prohibition,  which  extends  to  vessels  owned 
by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  either  Power,  to  foreign 
vessels  employed  by  them,  and  to  vessels  owned  by  the 
citizens  or  subjects  of  either  Power  and  employed  by 
other  persons  for  the  transportation  of  opium,  shall  be 
enforced  by  appropriate  legislation  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Chosen,  and  offenders  against  it 
shall  be  severely  punished. 

Article  VIII 

Whenever  the  Government  of  Chosen  shall  have  rea- 
son to  apprehend  a scarcity  of  food  within  the  limits  of 
the  kingdom,  His  Majesty  may,  by  decree,  temporarily 
prohibit  the  export  of  all  breadstuffs,  and  such  decree 
shall  be  binding  on  all  citizens  of  the  United  States  in 
Chosen,  upon  due  notice  having  been  g^ven  them  by  the 


APPENDICES 


336 


authorities  of  Chosen  through  the  proper  officers  of  the 
United  States ; but  it  is  to  be  understood  that  the  exporta- 
tion of  rice  and  breadstutfs  of  every  description  is  pro- 
hibited from  the  open  port  of  Yin-chuen. 

Chosen  having  of  old  prohibited  the  exportation  of  red 
ginseng,  if  citizens  of  the  United  States  clandestinely  pur- 
chase it  for  export,  it  shall  be  confiscated,  and  the  of- 
fenders punished. 

Article  IX 

The  purchase  of  cannon,  small  arms,  swords,  gun- 
powder, shot,  and  all  munitions  of  war  is  permitted  only 
to  officials  of  the  Government  of  Chosen,  and  they  may 
be  imported  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  only  under 
written  permit  from  the  authorities  of  Chosen.  If  these 
articles  are  clandestinely  imported,  they  shall  be  confis- 
cated, and  the  offending  party  shall  be  punished. 

Article  X 

The  officers  and  people  of  either  nation  residing  in  the 
other  shall  have  the  right  to  employ  natives  for  all  kinds 
of  lawful  work. 

Should,  however,  subjects  of  Chosen,  guilty  of  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  or  against  whom  any 
action  has  been  brought,  conceal  themselves  in  the  resi- 
dences or  warehouses  of  United  States  citizens  or  on 
board  United  States  merchant  vessels,  the  Consular  au- 
thorities of  the  United  States,  on  being  notified  of  the 
fact  by  the  local  authorities,  will  either  permit  the  latter 
to  dispatch  constables  to  make  the  arrests  or  the  persons 
will  be  arrested  by  the  Consular  authorities  and  handed 
over  to  the  local  constables. 

Officials  or  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  not  har- 
bour such  persons. 

Article  XI 

Students  of  either  nationality  who  may  proceed  to  the 
country  of  the  other,  in  order  to  study  the  language,  lit- 


336 


APPENDICES 


erature,  laws,  or  arts,  shall  be  given  all  possible  protec- 
tion and  assistance,  in  evidence  of  cordial  good-will. 

Article  XII 

This  being  the  first  treaty  negotiated  by  Chosen,  and 
hence  being  general  and  incomplete  in  its  provisions, 
shall,  in  the  first  instance,  be  put  into  operation  in  all 
things  stipulated  herein.  As  to  stipulations  not  contained 
herein,  after  an  interval  of  five  years,  when  the  officers 
and  people  of  the  two  Powers  shall  have  become  more 
familiar  with  each  other’s  language,  a further  negotiation 
of  commercial  provisions  and  regulations  in  detail,  in  con- 
formity with  international  law  and  without  unequal  dis- 
criminations on  either  part,  shall  be  had. 

Article  XIII 

This  Treaty  and  future  official  correspondence  between 
the  two  contracting  Governments  shall  be  made,  on  the 
part  of  Chosen,  in  the  Chinese  language. 

The  United  States  shall  either  use  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, or  if  English  be  used,  it  shall  be  accompanied  with 
a Chinese  version,  in  order  to  avoid  misunderstanding. 

Article  XIV 

The  high  contracting  Powers  hereby  agree  that  should 
at  any  time  the  King  of  Chosen  grant  to  any  nation,  or  to 
the  merchants  or  citizens  of  any  nation,  any  right,  privi- 
lege, or  favour,  connected  either  with  navigation,  com- 
merce, political  or  other  intercourse,  which  is  not  con- 
ferred by  this  treaty,  such  right,  privilege,  and  favour 
shall  freely  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  United  States,  its 
public  officers,  merchants,  and  citizens;  provided  always 
tha^  whenever  such  right,  privilege,  or  favour  is  accom- 
panied by  any  condition  or  equivalent  concession  granted 
by  the  other  nation  interested,  the  United  States,  its  of- 
ficers and  people,  shall  only  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  of 
such  right,  privilege,  or  favour  upon  complying  with  the 
conditions  or  concessions  connected  therewith. 


APPENDICES 


337 


In  faith  whereof,  the  respective  Commissioners  Pleni- 
potentiary have  signed  and  sealed  the  foregoing  at  Yin- 
chuen,  in  English  and  Chinese,  being  three  originals  of 
each  text,  of  even  tenor  and  date,  the  ratifications  which 
shall  be  exchanged  at  Yin-chuen  within  one  year  from 
the  date  of  its  execution,  and  immediately  thereafter  this 
treaty  shall  be  in  all  its  provisions  publicly  proclaimed 
and  made  known  by  both  Governments  in  their  respective 
countries,  in  order  that  it  may  be  obeyed  by  their  citizens 
and  subjects  respectively. 

Chosen,  May  the  22nd,  A.  D.  1882. 

(L.  S.)  (Signed)  R.  W.  Shufeldt, 

Commodore,  U.  S.  N.,  Envoy  of  the 
U.  S.  to  Chosen. 

(L.S.)  (Signed)  Shin  Chen  I 

(L.  S.)  (Signed)  Chin  Hong-Chi  f 

Members  of  the  Royal  Cabinet  of  Chosen. 

And  Whereas,  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of 
America  by  their  resolution  of  the  ninth  of  January,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-three  (two-thirds  of 
the  Senators  present  concurring),  did  advise  and  consent 
to  the  ratification  of  said  treaty  subject  to  the  condition 
following,  viz: 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  understanding  of  the  Senate 
in  agreeing  to  the  foregoing  resolution,  that  the  clause, 
“ Nor  are  they  permitted  to  transport  native  produce 
from  one  open  port  to  another  open  port,”  in  Article  VI 
of  said  treaty,  is  not  intended  to  prohibit  and  does  not 
prohibit  American  ships  from  going  from  one  open  port 
to  another  open  port  in  Korea  or  Chosen  to  receive  Ko- 
rean cargo  for  exportation,  or  to  discharge  foreign  cargo. 

And  Whereas,  said  treaty  has  been  duly  ratified  on 
both  parts,  subject  to  said  condition,  and  the  respective 
ratifications  thereof  exchanged. 


338 


ArPENDICES 


Now,  therefore,  be  it  known  that  I,  Chester  A.  Arthur, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  have  caused 
the  said  convention  to  be  made  public,  to  the  end  that  the 
same,  and  every  clause  and  article  thereof,  may  be  ob- 
served and  fulfilled  with  good  faith  by  the  United  States 
and  the  citizens  thereof. 

In  witness  whereof  I have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  Fourth  day  of 
June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  one  hundredth  and  seventh. 

Chester  A.  Arthur. 

By  the  President. 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State. 

(fe)  LIST  OF  TREATIES  WITH  OTHER 
POWERS  * 

Treaties  of  Amity  and  Commerce  were  made  by  Korea 
with  various  other  countries  in  substantially  the  same 
language  as  the  Treaty  with  the  United  States.  Being 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  identical,  they  are  not  quoted 
in  full,  but  are  listed  below : 


Austria-Hungary 

Belgium 

March  23,  1901 

China 

September  ii,  1899 

Denmark 

July  15,  1902 

France 

Germany 

November  26,  1883 

Great  Britain 

Italy 

June  26,  1884 

Japan 

Russia 

July  7.  1884 

‘For  the  full  text  of  the  foregoing  Treaties  see  the  author’s 
Korean  Treaties  (New  York,  1919). 


APPENDICES 


339 


(c)  JAPAN’S  GUARANTEE  OF  KOREAN  IN- 
DEPENDENCE 

Excerpts  from  Treaties  Made  by  Japan  Recognizing 
or  Asserting  Independence  of  Korea ; 

February  26,  i8y6 — Between  Korea  and  Japan. 

Chosen  (Korea)  being  an  independent  State  enjoys  the 
same  sovereign  rights  as  does  Japan. 

July  14,  1894 — Between  Korea  and  Japan. 

The  object  of  the  alliance  is  to  maintain  the  Independ- 
ence of  Korea  on  a firm  footing.  . . . 

Korea  will  undertake  to  give  every  possible  facility  to 
Japanese  soldiers  regarding  their  movement  and  supply 
of  provisions.  This  Treaty  shall  cease  and  determine  at 
the  conclusion  of  a Treaty  of  Peace  with  China. 

April  20,  1895 — Between  China  and  Japan  (Shimonoseki 
Treaty). 

China  recognizes  definitely  the  full  and  complete  inde- 
pendence and  autonomy  of  Korea. 

April  25,  1898 — Between  Russia  and  Japan. 

The  Imperial  Governments  of  Russia  and  Japan  recog- 
nize definitely  the  Sovereignty  and  entire  independence  of 
Korea,  and  pledge  themselves  mutually  to  abstain  from 
all  direct  interference  in  the  internal  affairs  of  that  coun- 
try. 

January  jo,  1902 — First  Anglo- Japanese  Alliance. 

The  High  Contracting  Parties,  having  mutually  recog- 
nized the  independence  of  China  and  Korea,  declare 
themselves  to  be  entirely  uninfluenced  by  any  aggressive 
tendencies  in  either  country. 

February  2y,  1904 — Between  Korea  and  Japan. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  definitely  guarantees 
the  Independence  and  territorial  integrity  of  the  Korean 
Empire. 


340  APPENDICES 

iir 

BALANCE  SHEET  BETWEEN  KOREA  AND 
JAPAN 

November  17,  1905,  to  December  ji,  1917. 

Extraordinary  Receipts  by  Japan — 

Increase  in  Korea’s  national  debt... $ 46,475,158.50 

Excess  taxes  collected  by  Japan  in  Korea 

over  normal  tax 50,098,877.50 

Dividends  due  Korea  on  stock  in  the  Oriental 

Development  Company  782,925.00 

One-half  profit  due  Korea  from  the  Yalu  and 

Tumen  River  lumber  undertaking 1,163,140.50 

Dividends  due  Korea  from  operation  of  rail- 
roads   1,967,505.50 

Dividends  due  from  operation  of  tramways  or 

narrow  gauge  railroads 32,000.00 

Proceeds  from  conduct  of  ginseng  traffic....  2,213,969.50 

Proceeds  from  operation  of  coal  mines 578,516.50 

Proceeds  from  operation  of  salt  works 347,794.00 

Proceeds  from  operation  of  iron  mines 165,481.50 

Amounts  confiscated  from  forest  preserves 

and  parks  586,305.50 

Profits  from  operation  of  water  works  at 
Seoul,  Chemulpo,  Pyeng  Yang  and  Chin- 
nampo  370,354.00 


Total  $104,782,028.00 

Extraordinary  Expenditures  by  Japan — 

Extension  of  railroads $37,645,123.00 

Capital  account  lumber  undertaking  406,000.00 

Capital  account  coal  mines  627,981.50 

Capital  account  salt  works  582,143.50 

Capital  account  tramways  1,203,000.00 

Capital  account  water  works  3,472,996.00 

Roads  and  streets  5,721,999.50 

Bridges  2,650,000.00 

Harbours  4,108,414.50 

Buildings  1,162,572.00 

Land  survey  8,331,539.50 

Forestry  survey  183,768.50 

Hospitals  474,197.50 

Submarine  cable  80,000.00 


$66,649,735.50 

Difference  in  favor  of  Korea 38,132,292.50 

'Appendices  III  to  V are  taken  from  “Japanese  Stewardship  of  Korea” 
by  F.  A.  Dolph,  of  the  Illinois  Bar,  and  are  used  here  with  the  permission 
of  the  author.  The  data  are  taken  by  Mr.  Dolph  mainly  from  Japanese 
o£5cial  reports. 


APPENDICES 


341 


IV 

INCREASES  IN  KOREA’S  NATIONAL  DEBT 
DURING  JAPANESE  CONTROL 


Total  National  Debt  as  reported  by  Japan  up  to  December 


31,  1917  $46,843,415.00 

National  Debt  at  commencement  of  Japanese  control 368,256.50 


Increase  during  Japanese  control 


Date 


December 

1,  1908 

March 

1,  1913 

April 

1,  1913 

October 

1,  1914 

March 

1,  1915 

August 

1,  1915 

August 

1,  1915 

October 

1,  1915 

October 

1,  1915 

March 

1,  1916 

March 

1,  1916 

July 

1,  1916 

September  1,  1916 

March 

1,  1917 

December 

1,  1917 

ITEMS 

Creditor 

Industrial  Bank,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Deposit  Section,  Finance  Dept., 

Japan  

Deposit  Section,  Finance  Dept., 

Japan  

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Bank  of  Chosen,  Korea 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Deposit  Section,  Finance  Dept., 

Japan  

Bank  of  Chosen,  Korea 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 

Imperial  Treasury,  Japan 


Total  

Annual  Interest  Charge 


,.$46,475,158.50 

Rate 

j^mount 

$ 6,481,960.00 

4 

526,325.00 

5 

15,000,000.00 

bVa 

2,500,000.00 

5vs; 

1,320,435.50 

5!4 

1,500,000.00 

6 

750,000.00 

5H 

1,250,000.00 

5'4 

155,556.00 

6 

3,000,000.00 

5’A 

1,567,163.50 

1,600,000.00 

5/, 

2,500,000.00 

5'A 

1,292,500.00 

5ya 

7,499,475.00 

$46,843,415.00 
$ 2,522,063.37 


342 


APPENDICES 


V 

EXCESS  TAXES  COLLECTED  DURING  JAPA- 
NESE CONTROL  OF  KOREA 

Comparative  Statement  Between  Taxes  Collected  Dur- 
ing Last  Year  of  Korean  Control,  $3,561,907.50,  and 
Taxes  Collected  Since  Under  Japanese  Control. 

Total  Collected 

Year  Under  Japanese 

1906  $ 3,699,372.00 

1907  4,951,436.00 

1908  6,144,100.50 

1909  6,747,817.00 

1910  7,393,666.00 

1911  6,595,492.00 

1912  6,842,432.00 

1913  7,642,303.00 

1914  10,101,815.00 

1915  10,575,029.00 

1916  10,731,620.50 

1917  11,416,684.50 


Total  $92,841,767.50 

Estimated  Total  Normal  Tax  in  Korea,  Same 
Period,  on  Basis  of  Greatest  Annual  Tax  Col- 
lected in  Korea  Prior  to  Japanese  Occupation.  42,742,890.00 


Excess  Collected  over  normal  tax 


$50,098,877.50 


APPENDICES 


343 


VI 

Petition  by  Viscounts  Kim  Yun-sik  and  Yi  Yong-chik  to 
General  Hasegawa,  Japanese  Governor-General  of 
Korea,  March  2"j,  igig. 

A way  of  doing  things  is  good  only  as  it  accords  with 
the  time ; and  a government  succeeds  only  when  it  makes 
its  people  happy.  If  the  way  is  not  in  keeping  with  the 
age,  it  is  not  a perfect  way;  and  if  a government  fails  to 
make  its  people  happy,  it  is  not  a good  government. 

It  is  now  ten  years  since  Japan  and  Korea  were  uni- 
fied, and  though  there  has  resulted  from  it  no  little  profit 
to  the  people  with  the  clearing  away  of  abuses,  still  it 
cannot  be  said  to  have  made  the  people  happy. 

To-day  when  the  call  for  independence  is  given  in  the 
street,  voices  without  number  answer  in  response.  In 
ten  days  and  less  the  whole  nation  vibrates  with  its  echo, 
and  even  the  women  and  children  vie  with  each  other 
with  no  fear  of  death  in  their  hearts.  What  is  the  reason 
for  such  a state  of  things  as  this?  Our  view  is  that  hav- 
ing borne  with  pain  and  stifled  resentment  to  the  point  of 
bursting,  and  being  unable  to  repress  it  further,  at  last 
they  have  found  expression,  and  like  the  overflowing  of 
the  Whang-ho  River  the  waves  have  broken  all  bounds, 
and  once  having  broken  away,  its  power  will  brook  no 
return.  We  call  this  an  expression  of  the  people,  but  is 
it  not  rather  the  mind  of  God  Himself? 

There  are  two  ways  of  treating  the  conditions  to-day, 
one  a kind  way  and  one  the  way  of  repression.  The  lib- 
eral way  would  be  to  speak  kindly,  soothe,  comfort  so  as 
to  remove  fears  and  misgivings.  But  in  that  case  there 
would  be  no  end  to  the  demonstrations.  The  use  of 
force,  on  the  other  hand,  that  would  cut  down,  uproot, 
beat  to  pieces,  extinguish,  will  but  rouse  it  the  more  and 


344 


APPENDICES 


never  conquer  its  spirit.  If  you  do  not  get  at  the  cause, 
you  will  never  settle  the  matter. 

The  people,  now  roused  to  action,  desire  that  restored 
to  them  that  they  once  possessed,  in  order  that  the  shame 
of  their  slavery  be  removed.  They  have  nothing  but  bare 
hands,  and  a tongue  with  which  to  speak  the  resentment 
they  feel.  You  can  tell  by  this  that  no  wicked  motive 
underlies  their  thoughts. 

The  good  and  superior  man  would  pity  and  forgive 
such  as  this,  and  view  it  with  tender  sympathy.  We  hear, 
however,  that  the  government  is  arresting  people  right 
and  left  till  they  fill  the  prisons.  There  they  whip,  beat, 
and  torture  them,  until  they  die  violent  deaths  beneath  it. 
The  government  also  uses  weapons  till  the  dead  lie  side 
by  side,  and  we  are  unable  to  endure  the  dreadful  stories 
we  hear. 

Nevertheless,  the  whole  state  only  rises  the  more,  and 
the  greater  the  force  used  to  put  it  down,  the  greater  the 
disturbances.  How  comes  it  that  you  look  not  to 
the  cause,  but  think  only  to  cut  the  manifestation  of  it 
down  by  force?  Though  you  cut  down  and  kill  those 
who  rise  up  everywhere,  you  may  change  the  face  of 
things,  but  the  heart  of  it,  never.  Every  man  has  written 
in  his  soul  the  word  Independence,  and  those  who  in  the 
quiet  of  their  rooms  shout  for  it  are  beyond  the  possibility 
of  numbering.  Will  you  arrest  and  kill  them  all? 

A man’s  life  is  not  something  to  be  dealt  with  as  the 
grass  that  grows.  In  ancient  times  Mancius  said  to  King 
Sun  of  Che  Kingdom,  “If  by  taking  possession  of  the 
state  you  can  make  the  people  of  Yun  happy,  take  pos- 
session ; but  if  taking  possession  will  render  them  miser- 
able, forbear  to  do  it.” 

Though  Mancius  spoke,  the  king  paid  no  attention,  and, 
as  a result,  came  to  a place  where  he  finally  said  that  he 
was  greatly  ashamed.  This  is,  indeed,  a mirror  from  his- 
tory worthy  to  be  looked  into.  Even  the  sage  cannot  run 


APPENDICES 


345 


counter  to  the  times  in  which  he  lives.  We  read  the 
mind  of  God  in  the  attitude  of  the  people.  If  a people 
are  not  made  happy,  history  tells  us  that  there  is  no  way 
by  which  their  land  can  be  held  in  possession. 

We,  your  servants,  have  come  to  these  times  of  danger 
and  difficulty.  Old  and  shameless  are  we,  for  when  our 
country  was  annexed  we  accepted  the  rank  of  nobility, 
held  office,  and  lived  in  disgrace,  till,  seeing  these  innocent 
people  of  ours  in  the  fire  and  water,  are  unable  to  endure 
the  sight  longer.  Thus  we,  too,  in  privacy  have  shouted 
for  the  independence  just  like  the  others. 

Fearing  not  presumption  on  our  part,  we  speak  forth 
our  hearts,  in  the  hope  that  Your  Excellency  will  be  in 
accord  herewith  and  let  His  Imperial  Majesty  know  so 
that  the  Cabinet  may  consider  it,  and  set  right  the  cause, 
not  by  mere  soft  words,  not  by  force,  but  in  accord  with 
the  opportunity  that  Heaven  above  grants  and  the  wishes 
of  the  people  speak.  Thus  may  Japan  give  independence 
to  Korea  and  let  her  justice  be  known  to  the  whole  world 
including  those  nations  with  whom  she  is  in  treaty  rela- 
tion. Undoubtedly,  all  will  grant  their  approval,  and, 
like  the  eclipsed  sun  and  moon,  Japan  will  once  again  re- 
sume the  light  and  splendour  of  her  way.  Who  will  not 
look  with  praise  and  commendation  on  this  act  of  yours? 

We,  your  servants,  behind  closed  doors,  ill  and  indis- 
posed, and  knowing  not  the  mind  of  the  world,  offer  our 
poor  woodmen’s  counsel  to  the  state.  If  you  accede  to  it, 
countless  numbers  of  people  will  be  made  happy;  but  if 
you  refuse,  we  two  alone  will  suffer.  We  have  reached 
the  bourn  of  life,  and  so  we  offer  ourselves  as  a sacrifice 
for  our  people.  Though  we  die  for  it,  we  have  no  com- 
plaints to  make.  In  our  sick  chamber  with  our  age  upon 
us,  we  know  not  how  to  speak  persuasively.  We  pray 
Your  Excellency  to  kindly  give  this  your  consideration. 
In  a word,  this  is  what  our  hearts  would  say. 


346 


APPENDICES 


VII 

ATROCITY  STATISTICS 

AND 

NOTES  OF  SPECIAL  INCIDENTS  REPORTED 
BY  EYE  WITNESSES 

Korean  Statistics  from  March  i,  1919,  to  March  i,  1920. 

Killed  7,645 

Injured  45,562 

Imprisoned  49,811 

Houses  burned  724 

Churches  burned  59 

Schools  burned  3 

Japanese  Statistics  from  March  i,  1919,  to  July  20,  1919. 

Demonstrations  suppressed  without  incident 341 

Suppressed  by  force  51 

Suppressed  by  force  and  firearms 185 

Total  demonstrations  suppressed  577 

Casualties: 

Koreans  killed  631 

Japanese  killed  9 

Koreans  wounded  and  treated  at  Government  hospi- 
tals (no  statistics  for  those  otherwise  treated) 1,409 

Arrests  and  Punishments: 

Flogged  by  order  Gendarmes  9,078 

Flogged  by  order  Court  1,514 

Prison  sentences  5,156 

Committed  to  trial  8,993 

Appeals  allowed  1,838 

Sentences  remitted  282 

Released  7,116 


Total  killed,  wounded  and  arrested 36,026 

Property  Damage: 

Churches  totally  destroyed  17 

Churches  partially  destroyed  24 

Other  buildings  destroyed  168 


APPENDICES 


347 


PrEsbyierian  Church  Statistics  Reported  to  its  Generai, 
Assembly  IN  October,  1919.  Covering  Their  Membership  Only; 


Churches  destroyed  13 

Killed  by  shooting  41 

Beaten  to  death  6 

Pastors,  elders  and  leaders  arrested  336 

Male  members  arrested  2,125 

Adherents  arrested  812 

Women  arrested  531 


Total  arrests  3,804 

Flogged  2,162 

Still  in  prison  1,642 


NOTES  OF  SPECIAL  INCIDENTS  REPORTED  BY 
EYE  WITNESSES 
Chronoeogicau 

March  /,  JQIQ: 

At  Seoul — Notice  posted  that  gathering  would  be  held  at 
Pagoda  Park  and  printed  copies  of  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence distributed.  People  gathered,  shouting  “Mansei” 
before  public  buildings  and  Consulates,  sending  in  copies 
of  Proclamation.  No  violence  done  by  Koreans,  who 
were  unarmed.  At  one  point  gendarmes  charged  crowd 
with  sabres  and  inflicted  many  wounds.  Police  arrested 
as  many  as  they  could.  Following  day,  Sunday,  second 
day  funeral  of  Emperor;  no  pronounced  further  dem- 
onstration until  the  5th. 

March  z,  igig: 

At  An-ju — Crowd  of  4,000  Koreans  gathered,  unarmed, 
shouting  “Mansei.”  Seven  Japanese  general  officers  came 
out  and  fired  many  shots  into  crowd  with  rifles — 8 killed 
and  20  wounded.  Two  of  the  wounded  treated  in  Sever- 
ance Hospital;  student,  19,  bullet  in  left  leg;  farmer,  61, 
shot  in  right  leg. 

At  Pyeng  Yang — Group  of  men  and  boys  charged  by 
soldiers  with  fixed  bayonets.  Two  men  on  horseback  ran 
down  one  man;  man  was  then  attacked  by  four  soldiers, 
stamped  on  and  beaten  with  gun  butts  until  unconscious 
and  was  dragged  off.  Four  soldiers  attacked  one  young 
fellow,  22,  and  struck  him  in  the  face  over  and  over  again 
with  gun  butts.  Thirty  soldiers  charged  group  of  boys 


I 


348  APPENDICES 

and  caught  four;  one  boy,  14,  hands  were  tied  and  was 
then  beaten  in  the  face.  Three  soldiers  met  workman 
not  in  crowd  and  beat  him  severely.  Two  women  knocked 
down  with  gun  butts;  one  was  50  years  old,  and  as  she 
limped  away,  soldiers  levelled  and  fired.  Scores  of  men 
and  boys  severely  beaten.  Five  theological  students,  who 
had  just  arrived,  arrested  in  their  rooms;  each  given  29 
lashes.  Two  girls  dragged  by  their  hair  to  telegraph 
poles;  tied  to  poles  with  their  hair  and  severely  beaten. 
One  old  man,  65,  beaten  until  he  could  not  walk;  dragged 
to  station  and  beaten  unconscious  a second  time.  One 
Korean  killed  by  firemen  with  hooks,  and  corpse  dragged 
away  by  hooks.  Old  men,  women  and  children  indis- 
criminately abused  and  officially  flogged  at  the  station. 
Two  women  beaten,  kicked  and  thrown  into  ditch.  Sol- 
diers fired  into  crowd  of  women.  Police  kept  wounded 
from  being  taken  to  hospital  to  prevent  record  being 
made;  however,  11  did  get  to  hospital,  who  were  brought 
in  from  the  surrounding  country  with  gunshot  wounds. 

March  3,  1919: 

At  Kyumipo — Church  badly  damaged.  Villagers  had 
gathered  in  front  of  home  of  an  elder.  Dispersed  by 
police,  and  police  saying,  “ Christians  are  responsible  for 
this,”  rushed  on  to  the  church;  smashed  all  the  glass;  broke 
the  stove;  tore  out  the  bell  and  set  fire  to  the  church, 
starting  one  fire  inside,  and  one  outside.  Then  proceeded 
to  school  and  smashed  all  the  doors  and  windows.  Three 
Koreans  arrested  and  sent  to  Pyeng  Yang  jail. 

At  Maingsan — People  gathered,  mostly  Chuntokyo  fol- 
lowers. Soldiers  appeared  and  arrested  leader,  who  was 
badly  treated;  this  incensed  people  who  followed  to  sta- 
tion which  was  in  an  inclosure.  After  59  Koreans  had 
entered  gate,  it  was  closed  and  soldiers  then  proceeded 
deliberately  to  shoot  them  down.  Fifty-six  killed  and  three 
escaped.  Those  not  killed  by  bullets  were  run  through  and 
through  with  bayonets.  Bodies  piled  up  and  counted  and 
when  soldiers  discovered  that  three  had  escaped,  set  out  to 
find  them.  In  the  melee  one  soldier  was  shot,  a Korean 
grabbing  a gun  from  a soldier.  Escaped  Koreans  not 
found,  and  soldiers  then  arrested  a woman  Bible  leader 
sent  out  from  Pyeng  Yang;  she  was  cruelly  treated  and 
tortured  and  told  to  cease  preaching. 


APPENDICES 


349 


March  4,  1919: 

At  Morupsil — Crowd  attacked  by  4 gendarmes.  Two 
Koreans  killed  instantly,  5 died  later  and  20  wounded. 
Ten  of  the  wounded  treated  in  Mission  Hospital;  one 
amputation  on  account  of  leg  being  shattered  below  the 
knee,  and  one  shot  through  spine  losing  one  vertebra. 

At  Ham-heung — Number  of  students  and  one  teacher 
had  been  arrested  two  days  preceding.  On  March  3 stores 
were  closed  and  a crowd  was  dispersed  by  Japanese 
firemen  with  fire  lances;  a number  injured  and  ar- 
rested. Crowd  again  collected  on  4th  and  attacked  by 
Japanese  fire  brigade  armed  with  hooks  and  lances;  many 
seriously  injured;  one  student  had  violent  mark  across  fore- 
head and  left  leg  hung  limp,  was  detained  for  several  days 
without  treatment;  another  had  skull  crushed  and  was  re- 
leased in  dying  condition.  Seven  Koreans  arrested,  also  a 
number  of  girls,  and  taken  to  station  in  pitiful  condition. 

March  5,  1919: 

At  Sunan-ub — Gendarmes  fired  into  crowd  killing  5 and 
wounding  many  others;  wounded  thrown  into  prison  with- 
out food,  water  or  treatment,  and  many  deaths  from 
gangrene.  Old  man  protested  at  this  treatment  of  prison- 
ers. Shot  dead.  His  wife  came  to  recover  body  and  was 
killed.  Later,  daughter  came  and  was  driven  away,  re- 
ceiving severe  sword  cuts. 

At  Seoul — Promptly  at  nine  o’clock  demonstration 
started.  Shops  closed.  Street  Railway  employees  stopped 
work.  Literati  prepared  petition  to  Governor  General;  on 
presentation  at  his  office,  were  told  to  present  at  police 
station,  and  being  there  presented,  the  messengers  were 
arrested.  Demonstration  a surprise  to  police  and  had  pro- 
ceeded for  nearly  half  a mile  before  it  was  opposed.  The 
crowd  was  charged  with  sabres.  No  respect  shown  for 
sex.  Hundreds  arrested.  Red  Cross  nurses  rushed  out 
with  bandages  to  attend  wounded.  They  were  detained 
in  police  station  to  prevent  their  assisting  the  wounded 
and  not  released  until  late  afternoon. 

March  6,  1919: 

At  Ham-heung— Stores  still  closed  and  outbreak  of  the 
4th  started  again.  Japanese  fire  brigade  again  rushed  the 
crowd.  Number  clubbed  and  wounded.  One  taken  to 


360 


APPENDICES 


station  in  dying  condition  and  released  to  prevent  record 
being  made  of  his  death. 

March  7,  1919: 

At  Pan-suk — Soldiers  came  and  pulled  over  the  church 
tower,  broke  the  panes  of  glass  and  destroyed  the  Bibles. 
Arrested  5 men  and  women  and  stripping  them  of  all 
clothing  beat  them  with  clubs  and  guns.  House  of  school 
teacher  broken  into.  One  man  beaten  until  he  died. 
Police  being  unable  to  find  one  of  the  elders  of  the  church, 
his  wife  and  two-year-old  baby  were  seized;  woman  was 
stripped  naked,  and  she  and  the  baby  beaten  to  compel 
woman  to  tell  where  her  husband  was.  Many  arrests  made. 

March  8,  1919: 

At  Kang-kei — Is  a mountain  village  where  several  hun- 
dred gathered.  Police  without  warning  opened  fire,  killing 
4 and  wounding  8.  Later,  as  police  were  leaving  they  saw 
two  women  at  the  river  washing  and  fired  at  them;  one 
woman  hit  in  the  head,  but  the  other  was  missed. 

At  Sing-chang — Soldiers  destroyed  the  church  bell,  and 
the  wife  of  the  Methodist  minister,  who  was  enceinte,  was 
attacked  and  beaten;  cannot  recover. 

March  lO,  1919: 

At  Soon-an — Crowd  gathered  and  was  rushed  by  sol- 
diers. Only  Christians  were  arrested.  One  elder  given 
100  blows.  One  teacher  arrested  and  cut  eight  times  with 
bayonets. 

From  Pyeng  Yang  the  following  churches  reported 
wrecked  and  destroyed— M.  E.  and  Presbyterian  at 
Chinnampo;  Presbyterian  churches  at  Kyomipo,  Pansyok, 
Nichon,  Namsanmoru,  Tateiryung.  At  Mirim  the  elders 
were  arrested  and  given  29  lashes;  at  Choongwha  the 
deacons  were  arrested  and  given  15  lashes.  On  Saturday 
the  8th,  two  divisions  of  prisoners  passed  through  the 
mission  compound;  the  first  had  12  men  and  the  second 
had  88;  were  all  from  Syunchun,  a strong  Chuntokyo 
center,  about  47  miles  from  Pyeng  Yang. 

March  12,  1919: 

At  Pai-paik — Teacher  of  Christian  school  arrested  after 
having  been  wounded  with  bayonets.  In  melee  soldiers 
shot  into  crowd  killing  5 and  injuring  many  others. 


APPENDICES 


361 


March  13,  I9I9’- 

At  Sing-hung — On  market  day  police  fired  into  crowd, 
killing  4 and  wounding  4;  one  of  the  killed  was  woman 
carrying  a jar  of  water  on  her  head. 

March  15,  1919: 

At  Sunk-dok,  near  Ham-heung— Police  charged  crowd, 
killing  4 Koreans. 

March  16,  1919: 

At  Tukum — Crowd  of  500  fired  into  by  gendarmes.  One 
killed  and  8 wounded. 

March  18,  1919: 

At  On-chang  market— 600  gathered,  shouting  “ Mansei.” 
Clubbed  by  gendarmes  and  then  fired  upon;  3 killed  and 
20  wounded.  Kim  Kwang  Un,  72,  shot  in  shoulder.  Tried 
to  get  to  Seoul  hospital,  but  was  arrested  at  Chinnampo, 
tied,  beaten  and  then  released;  same  occurred  at  Chai- 
kyung-ub,  but  he  finally  reached  Severance  Hospital;  three 
others  also  reached  the  hospital;  one  man,  21,  shot  in  face 
and  bullet  extracted  from  upper  jaw  bone;  another  died 
in  few  hours,  and  the  third,  an  aged  man,  beaten  with 
clubs,  died  the  second  day. 

March  22,  1919: 

Inside  little  east  gate,  Seoul — Several  hundred  gathered; 
were  fired  on  by  soldiers;  several  killed,  and  many 
wounded.  One  man  reached  Severance  Hospital  with  gun- 
shot in  eye;  eye  destroyed. 

At  Seoul — Large  demonstration.  Quickly  suppressed 
and  many  arrests  made. 

March  23,  1919: 

At  Seoul — Organized  demonstration  simultaneously  in 
all  parts  of  city.  Bayonets  were  freely  used  and  many 
wounded.  Number  killed.  , 

At  Ryung-sungi-li — Crowd  of  men  and  boys  charged  by 
soldiers.  Song  Yong,  a boy  of  16,  fell  behind,  was  wounded 
in  hand  by  bayonet;  while  sitting  holding  his  injured  hand, 
second  soldier  came  up  and  thrust  him  in  the  stomach 
with  his  bayonet. 

At  Whang-hai-do — Crowd  of  several  hundred  attacked 
by  gendarmes  with  clubs,  swords  and  rifles.  Three  killed 


I 


362 


APPENDICES 


and  20  wounded.  Man  of  25  with  bullet  wound  in  leg 
treated  at  Severance  Hospital. 

March  27,  1919: 

At  Dok-san — 300  gathered  shouting  and  waving  Korean 
flags;  attacked  by  15  gendarmes;  later  reenforced  from 
Seoul  by  motor  cars.  Shot  into  crowd;  killed  1 and 
wounded  15.  Those  treated  at  Severance  were:  man  23, 
shot  in  foot;  man  27,  shot  in  leg;  man  35,  shot  in  arm 
and  side;  man  21,  shot  through  lip;  man  35,  terribly 
wounded  in  body,  leg  smashed;  1 unknown,  unconscious, 
shot  in  head. 

At  Horin-mal — All  ordered  to  meet  in  church,  the  bell 
being  rung.  Twenty-six  of  those  who  responded  were 
arrested;  6 released  and  20  imprisoned;  later  sentenced  to 
90  strokes. 

At  Andong — Large  body  of  young  men  gathered  and 
were  dispersed  by  police.  One  man  attacked  by  policeman 
with  sword  and  literally  cut  to  pieces,  receiving  20  cuts; 
died  at  hospital. 

March  28,  1919: 

At  Morak — Number  of  people  assembled;  3 police  fired 
into  crowd,  killing  and  wounding  several.  Enraged  crowd, 
and  they  killed  police.  Gendarmes  arrived,  firing  into 
crowd.  Two  sons  of  an  elder  killed.  Elder  Cha  shot 
through  the  arm;  one  deacon  shot  through  the  shoulder, 
and  another  through  the  leg;  treated  at  Hall  Memorial 
Hospital  in  Pyeng  Yang.  Elder  Cha’s  brother  thrust 
through  the  back  with  bayonet  and  killed.  Elder  Cha’s 
house  visited;  his  wife  beaten;  library  and  all  church  rec- 
ords burned. 

At  Kwang-ju-eup — 600  assembled.  Gendarmes  fired, 
killing  3 and  wounding  a number  of  others.  One  farmer, 
34,  treated  at  hospital;  jaw  bone  shot  away. 

In  Pal-ju — 65  li  from  Seoul,  1,000  gathered  to  shout 
“ Mansei.”  Attacked  by  gendarmes  who  followed  crowd 
shooting  as  they  ran;  8 killed  and  3 wounded. 

At  Ko-yang-koon — 5,000  gathered;  attacked  by  mounted 
police,  gendarmes  in  uniform  and  in  civilian  clothes;  many 
killed  and  wounded;  number  not  reported  by  eye-witness. 
Man,  54,  struck  on  arm  with  sword  scabbard  and  severely 
beaten;  was  treated  at  Severance. 


APPENDICES 


353 


At  Ko-sang-^hops  had  closed  and  were  ordered  opened; 
about  70  Koreans  had  gathered.  Gendarmes  fired  into 
crowd.  One  man,  26,  with  gunshot  wound  in  left  arm, 
treated  at  Severance. 

At  Kang-ung — Market  day;  1,000  gathered,  shouting  and 
unarmed;  gendarmes  fired  into  crowd,  killing  4 and 
wounding  4;  one  treated  at  Severance  with  bullet  in 
shoulder. 

March  30,  1919: 

At  Seoul — Japanese  police  report  38  instances  of  gen- 
darmes firing  into  crowds,  with  9 police  killed,  and  361 
Koreans  killed  and  860  wounded.  Koreans’  table  shows 
over  600  killed  in  Seoul  during  March. 

At  Tong  Chaing — On  market  day;  demonstration.  Police 
arrested  17,  five  of  them  women.  Women  were  stripped 
naked  and  beaten  with  clubs;  were  then  forced  to  stand 
before  the  Japanese  officers,  while  officers  had  their  tea 
and  made  fun  of  them. 

At  Kyen  Syo — While  people  were  at  Sunday  School 
and  about  25  were  praying,  soldiers  entered  the  church; 
jammed  their  guns  through  the  windows;  beat  the  leader 
and  went  away  with  4 men  and  3 women  prisoners. 

April  2,  1919: 

At  Tong  Chaing — Body  of  miners  came  from  neighbour- 
ing mine  to  resent  treatment  of  women  on  the  30th,  saying 
they  could  not  allow  such  savages  to  go  unpunished.  Two 
of  them  were  shot  and  one  man  wounded. 

April  6,  1919: 

At  Suchon — Soldiers  appeared  and  fired  the  village.  This 
is  the  15th  village  reported  destroyed  by  soldiers. 

April  8,  1919: 

At  Kang-kei — Small  mountain  town,  demonstration 
started;  2 killed  and  12  wounded. 

April  II,  1919: 

At  Wha-su-ri — Village  burned;  many  wounded  and  in- 
jured by  Japanese  police  and  soldiers. 

April  15,  1919: 

At  Do-chu-ni — Soldiers  entered  the  village;  killed  six 
sons  and  grandsons  in  one  family;  covered  the  bodies  with 


364 


APPENDICES 


straw  and  set  fire  to  them.  Old  man  of  76  left  to  mourn 
his  sons. 

At  Chai-amm-ni — Japanese  soldiers  entered  the  village; 
ordered  the  inhabitants  to  enter  the  church.  After  they 
had  done  so,  soldiers  fired  into  the  church,  and  after  most 
of  Koreans  had  been  killed,  the  church  w’as  set  fire  to. 
Six  bodies  found  bayoneted  outside  the  church  where 
they  had  attempted  to  escape.  Two  women  murdered;  one 
bayoneted  and  the  other  shot.  Then  the  whole  village 
was  burned. 

We  find  that  we  must  close  this  diary  of  horror  with 
the  incident  of  the  Chai-amm-ni  Massacre.  It  could  be 
continued,  with  daily  occurrences,  through  all  of  the 
two  years  that  have  now  passed  since  March  i,  1919, 
when  Korea  asserted  its  restored  independence,  but  it 
would  extend  this  appendix  beyond  all  reasonable  limits. 
The  reader  may  judge  what  might  be  added  by  what  has 
been  recorded,  but  to  show  that  these  atrocities  continue, 
we  also  cite  a few  of  the  more  recent  events. 

The  reign  of  terror  is  carried  on  by  the  Japanese 
soldiers,  not  only  in  Korea,  but  also  among  the  Korean 
settlements  in  far-off  Manchuria,  where  there  are  few 
foreign  eyes  to  observe  and  record  the  deeds.  The 
Korean  residents  of  Manchuria,  like  their  brethren  every- 
where in  the  world,  gave  their  moral  support  and  financial 
aid  to  the  Independence  Movement.  As  a result,  whole- 
sale massacres,  burning  of  villages  and  devastation  of 
fields  by  Japanese  soldiers  became  the  order  of  the  day. 
Dr.  S.  H.  Martin,  a Canadian  medical  missionary  at 
Yong  Jung,  South  Manchuria,  visited  one  of  these  ill- 
fated  villages,  Norabawie,  on  October  31,  1920,  two  days 
after  its  destruction  at  the  hand  of  Japanese  soldiers. 
The  following  is  a part  of  the  report  of  the  massacre, 
submitted  by  Dr.  Martin  to  the  Canadian  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  at  Toronto: 

At  daybreak,  October  29,  Japanese  infantry  surrounded  the 
main  Christian  village,  and  starting  at  the  head  of  the  valley. 


APPENDICES 


366 


burned  immense  stacks  of  unthreshed  millet,  barley  and  straw, 
and  then  ordered  the  people  to  vacate  their  homes. 

As  each  son  and  father  stepped  forth  he  was  shot,  and 
though  perhaps  not  dead,  heaps  of  burning  straw  were  placed 
over  them.  If  they  struggled  to  escape  the  flames,  they 
were  bayoneted.  The  Japanese  soldiers  then  set  fire  to  the 
houses.  . . . 

I have  names  of,  and  accurate  reports  of,  thirty-two  villages 
where  fire  and  willful  murder  were  used — in  one  village  the 
dead  numbering  145.  I saw  the  ruins  of  a house  which  was 
burned  with  women  and  children  inside.  At  Sonoyung  four 
men  were  stood  up  near  an  open  grave  and  shot.  Foreigners 
are  not  permitted  to  travel  here,  as  the  Japanese  officers  are 
unable  to  guarantee  their  safety. 

Another  Canadian  missionary,  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Foote, 
says  in  his  report : 

At  Nam  Koa-u — October  19,  leader’s  house  and  school 
burnt  and  the  church  set  on  fire,  but  not  seriously  damaged. 

At  Kusei  Tong — October  19,  Christian’s  house  burnt. 

At  01  To  Kuo — October  26,  four  houses  of  Christians  burnt. 

At  Mjamg  Dong — October  26,  a fine  brick  schoolhouse  nearly 
one  hundred  feet  long  burnt,  also  an  elder’s  house. 

At  Nopei — October  26,  the  church  (seating  30  people)  and 
school  burnt. 

At  Kan  Chang  Am — October  30,  church,  school  and  nine 
houses  burnt.  Twenty-five  people  shot  and  the  bodies  burnt. 

All  these  instances  are  absolutely  authentic.  Five  people 
(four  missionaries  and  one  customs  official)  investigated 
conditions  on  two  different  days,  spending  some  time  with 
the  people. 

At  Cheng  San — The  church  and  school  and  a few  houses 
burnt;  30  people  killed,  23  of  them  shot  and  seven  burned 
to  death  in  their  own  houses. 

At  Un  Tong  Ja — Church  and  school  burnt  and  80  people 
shot.  . 

These  are  all  Christian  villages. 

The  soldiers  and  a commanding  officer  who  go  to  these 
places  as  a general  thing  have  no  conversation  whatever  with 
the  people,  but  do  their  diabolical  deeds  and  pass  on. 

For  instance,  at  Nopei  the  soldiers  were  passing  through 


366 


APPENDICES 


when  they  came  opposite  a church,  and  the  officer,  who  was 
mounted,  halted  his  men  just  long  enough  to  set  fire  to  the 
church  and  school  and  then  pass  on. 

Ku  Sei  Tong  is  the  only  place  where  any  reason  was  given 
to  the  people  at  all  for  the  action.  A Korean  accompanied 
the  soldiers  and  told  the  people  that  the  officer  said  he  had 
evidence  that  the  owner  of  the  house  had  collected  money 
for  Korean  patriotic  purposes.  If  only  offenders  suffered 
even  the  Koreans  would  not  seriously  object;  but  it  is 
where  the  perfectly  innocent  and  helpless  are  done  to  death 
without  even  an  opportunity  to  say  a word  on  their  own 
behalf  that  the  injustice  and  hardship  appear.  At  Kan 

Chang  Am  there  are  poor  women  left  at  the  approach 
of  a cold  winter  without  a thing  to  support  themselves  and 
their  children.  The  men  of  the  family  were  shot;  the  houses 
and  all  the  contents  were  burned;  and  the  crops  which  had 
been  gathered  and  stored  about  their  houses  were  burned 
too.  Some  of  the  women  and  children  are  even  shoeless. 
The  soldiers  entered  the  village  soon  after  sunrise,  bringing 
with  them  six  men  from  a neighbouring  village.  These  and 
the  young  men  of  Kan  Chang  Am  were  herded  in  front  of  a 
Korean  house  and  without  even  a form  of  examination  were 
shot  down.  From  one  house  were  a father  and  a son.  From 
another,  two  brothers  and  a son,  25  in  all.  Then  their 
bodies  were  heaped  together  in  two  piles,  covered  with  wood, 
and  burned.  While  the  fuel  was  being  placed  on  them,  some 
of  the  wounded  were  still  able  to  rise,  but  they  were 
bayoneted  to  the  ground  and  met  their  fate  in  the  flames. 

I know  these  people  well.  They  lived  in  an  out-of-the-way 
glen.  The  land  is  not  fertile  and  firewood  is  very  scarce. 
They  were  a quiet,  hard-working  people,  kind-hearted,  who 
struggled  hard  to  make  a living.  Their  church  and  school, 
their  Bible  and  hymn  books,  their  Sunday  worship  and  above 
all,  their  Saviour,  were  their  joy. 

Miss  Emma  M.  Palethorpe  of  Ontario,  a member  of 
the  Canadian  Presbyterian  mission  at  Yong  Jung,  tells  in 
her  statement  of  the  execution  of  five  men  from  the 
village  of  Suchilgo  who  were  led  by  the  Japanese  soldiers 
to  the  top  of  a hill  about  three  miles  from  Yong  Jung 
and  there  put  to  death.  Writes  Miss  Palethorpe: 


APPENDICES 


367 


In  the  top  of  the  hill  there  is  quite  a large  hollow  not 
visible  from  the  road  or  village.  The  victims  were  made  to 
sit  at  the  bottom  of  this  where  they  were  slashed  at  with 
swords.  It  is  reported  by  an  eye-witness  that  two  swords 
were  broken,  and  then  the  awful  work  was  finished  with 
bayonets.  Then  the  loose  earth  was  pulled  down  from  the 
sides  of  the  hollow  to  cover  the  mutilated  bodies. 

One  of  the  latest  Associated  Press  dispatches  (Decem- 
ber II,  1920),  reports  375  Koreans  executed  without 
trial  near  Chientoa,  1,500  arrested,  2 churches  and  5 
schools  destroyed.  A previous  dispatch  (December  8, 
1920),  had  reported  70  houses  in  one  village  and  130  in 
another  destroyed. 

A still  later  dispatch  (December  14,  1920),  sent  by 
Junius  B.  Wood,  the  Far  Eastern  correspondent  of  the 
Qiicago  Daily  News,  who  has  visited  the  Chientoa  dis- 
trict, states: 

According  to  the  figures  furnished  me  at  the  headquarters 
of  the  19th  Japanese  division,  375  Koreans  were  killed  and 
193  homes  were  burned  during  the  Japanese  operations  in 
southeastern  Manchuria. 

Governor  Tao,  head  of  eight  prefectures,  including  Chientoa 
and  Hunchun,  told  me  a few  days  earlier  that  his  incomplete 
reports  from  four  prefectures  showed  that  800  Koreans  had 
been  killed  and  300  homes  with  harvested  crops  and  live 
stock  had  been  burned. 

Reports  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  missionaries,  cover- 
ing a portion  of  the  same  territory,  but  without  official  ma- 
chinery or  other  facilities  to  enable  them  to  reach  isolated 
villages  and  hamlets  connected  merely  by  rough  mountain 
paths,  indicated  that  even  the  figures  of  the  Chinese  Governor 
were  conservative. 

In  a dispatch  immediately  succeeding  the  above  (De- 
cember 15,  1920),  Mr.  Wood  gives  definite  instances: 

In  the  Changsan  district,  including  several  scattered  vil- 
lages, 130  houses  and  several  churches  and  schools  were 


358 


APPENDICES 


burned  and  90  persons  were  shot,  according  to  reports.  Among 
these  places  was  a non-Christian  village  of  thirty  houses,  with 
seventy  persons.  It  was  entirely  destroyed.  One  entire 
family,  hiding  in  a potato  pit  under  a house,  were  suffo- 
cated. . . . 

In  Tutogo,  where  a Japanese  vice-consul  is  located,  the 
bodies  of  six  executed  men  lay  outside  the  village  until  dogs 
started  to  eat  them.  Then  permission  for  their  burial  was 
finally  given.  . . . 

In  Najakoa  valley,  100  miles  north  of  Lunghingthun,  500 
out  of  1,000  homes  were  burned  and  600  persons  were  exe- 
cuted. In  some  instances  the  bodies  were  hacked  into  frag- 
ments and  piled  in  heaps,  so  that  the  remains  could  not  be 
identified  by  the  survivors.  . . . 

Out  of  120  churches  and  schools  owned  by  Koreans  under 
Canadian  Presbyterian  supervision,  about  20  were  destroyed. 
. . . All  of  the  three  Korean  owned  middle  schools  in  the 
Chientoa  and  Hunchun  districts  were  destroyed.  Mungdong 
Academy,  a brick  building  worth  10,000  yen  ($5,000),  was 
burned.  . . . The  Chungon  Academy  was  sacked  and  the 
maps,  charts,  laboratory  apparatus  and  books  were  destroyed. 
The  equipment  w’as  worth  several  thousand  dollars.  The 
teachers  in  this  school  were  educated  abroad.  Whango 
Academy,  in  the  Hunchun  district,  was  burned. 


Index 


Abdication  of  Emperor  Yi,  58 
Administrative  policy  and  per- 
sonnel of  Japanese  Offi- 
cials— militaristic,  61 
American  part  in  Korean  de- 
velopment, prior  to  Jap- 
anese control,  39 
Ancient  History  of  Korea,  33 
Area  and  geographic  data  of 
Korea,  25 

Armstrong,  Rev.  A.  E. — de- 
struction of  Churches  and 
Mission  Schools,  169-170 
Statement  as  to  Independ- 
ence Movement,  208-209 
Atrocities  in  Chientao  and 
Korea,  228-230 

Assassination  of  the  Queen  by 
order  of  Japanese  Minister, 
45 

Attempted  justification  of 
murder  by  Masujima,  46-47 
Details  of  Trial  of  Japanese 
Minister  for  assassination, 
322 

Assassination  of  Emperor  Yi, 

.193 

Assimilation  — Japanese  Policy 
of — submit  or  perish,  62 
Associated  Press  — Massacres 
continue  (Nov.  9,  1920), 
276 

Atrocities — by  Japanese — flog- 
ging — practice,  incidents 
and  statistics,  74-82 
Indignities  to  women  and 
girls,  92 

Prison  congestion  and  filth, 
100 


Prisoners  frozen  to  death, 
103 

During  passive  demonstra- 
tions, 216 

In  Manchuria,  229-230,  318- 

319 

Japanese  statistics  on,  316 

Statistics  (Appendix  VII), 
346  _ 

Statistics  (Recent  Massacres 
in  Manchuria),  354 

Bishop,  Mrs.  Isabei,i,a  Bird — 
quotation  from  Korea  and 
Her  Neighbors  (Societies 
in  Korea),  36-37 
Brown,  Rev.  A.  J. — develop- 
ment of  industrial  arts, 
35-36 

Social  evils,  150-151 

Opium,  153-154 

Candler,  Bishop  Warren  A. — 
quotation  from  Hun  of  the 
Orient — reforms  a myth, 
283-284 

Censorship  of  Korean  publica- 
tions, 126,  274-275 
Chai-amm-ni — atrocities  in,  233 
Chientao  District  — Japanese 
atrocities  in,  318-319 
Christian  Advocate — quotation 
from  Korean  Independence 
Movement  of  igig  (Judi- 
cial system),  72-73 
Christianity  in  Korea,  32 

Persecution  of  Church  by 
Japanese,  160 


359 


360 


INDEX 


“ Conspiracy  Case,”  163-164 
Statistics  on  persecutions, 

Indignities  to  missionaries, 

173 

Church — persecutions  of,  159, 
171-172 

Clement,  Ernest  W.,  on  social 
evils,  146 

Climate  of  Korea,  27 
Congressional  Record  quoted— 
Japanese  ancient  raids  of 
Korea,  41 

Korean  alliance  with  Japan 
against  Russia,  49 
Summary  judgments — Con- 
victions without  trial,  71 
Indignities  to  women  by  Jap- 
anese, 94 

Freedom  of  speech  denied, 

J3I. 

Discrimination  in  schools, 

133-135 

False  statements  of  Japanese 
press,  241 

Convictions  without  trial — sum- 
mary judgment  statistics, 

71 

Cook,  Rev.  W.  T.,  on  Korean 
emigration  into  Manchuria, 
115-117 

Courts — Japanese  judges  and 
clerks,  63 

Different  code  for  Koreans, 

63 

Habeas  corpus  unknown,  64 
Defendant  unable  to  call  wit- 
nesses, 65 

Police  given  judicial  powers, 
66 

Search  without  warrant,  67 
Prisoner  presumed  guilty,  68 
Right  of  counsel  denied,  69 
Collusion  between  police  and 
courts,  70 

Convictions  without  trial, 
totals  for  years  1913  to 
1917,  inclusive,  71 
Torture  during  preliminary 
examinations,  72 


Cynn,  Hugh  H.,  quotations 
from  Rebirth  of  Korea: 
Freedom  of  speech  denied, 
129 

Schools  for  Koreans,  135-136 
Diplomas  denied  Koreans, 
141-142 

Demonstrations  for  Independ- 
ence, 209 

Participation  of  Literati  and 
all  classes,  210 

Petition  of  Viscounts  Kim 
and  Yi  to  Hasegawa,  343 
Strikes  by  merchants  and 
labourers,  209 

Dennett,  Tyler — quotation  from 
Road  to  Peace,  via  China, 

. *41  . 

Diplomatic  Relations  between 
Korea  and  Japan,  41 

Economic  Exploitation,  107 
Fraudulent  land  seizures, 

114-115 

Currency  reforms — worthless 
money — no  reserve,  117 
Japanese  stewards  for  Ko- 
rean families,  119 
Japanese  merchants  given 
preferences,  120 
Balance  sheet  between  Ko- 
rea and  Japan,  340 
Increases  in  Korean  National 
Debt  by  Japan,  341 
Excess  Taxes  collected  by 
Japan  in  Korea,  342 

Educational  System — W.  E. 
Griffis  quoted,  37 
Historical  records  burned, 
125-126 

Restrictions  on  Korean  pub- 
lications, 127 

Instances  of  Japanese  cen- 
sorship, 128 

Suppression  of  freedom  of 
speech,  129 

Statistics  on  schools  for  Ko- 
reans and  Japanese,  133- 

134 


INDEX 


361 


Instruction  in  Japanese  re- 
quired, 135 

Employment  of  Japanese 
teachers  required,  136 
"Japanized”  curriculum  and 
Mikado  worship  in  schools, 

138 

Ellis,  William  T.-^uotations 
from  Christianities  Fiery 
Trial  in  Korea — Parson 
Kil  charged  with  treason, 

156  ^ . 

Persecution  of  missionaries, 

178 

Emmons,  C.  V.  — quotation 
from  The  Jap  Hun — Read 
his  Record,  99 
Emperor  Yi — 

Abdication  forced  by  Jap- 
anese, 58 

Assassination,  193 
Ethnology  of  Korea — By  Prof. 
Keane,  28 

By  Prof.  Hulbert,  29 
By  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Gale,  30-31 
Korean  and  Japanese  char- 
acters contrasted,  285 

Federai,  Councii,  of  Churches 
— quotations  from  pam- 
phlet, Korean  Situation,  is- 
sued by,  participation  of 
Koreans  in  their  own  gov- 
ernment denied,  63 
Schools,  133-135 
Atrocities,  218-220 
Fisher,  Galen  W. — on  Jap- 
anese social  evils — practice 
among  teachers  and  princi- 
pals of  schools,  146-147 
Flogging  — practice  — statistics 
and  incidents,  74 

Gale,  Rev.  James  S. — ethnology 
and  history  of  Korea,  31 
Modesty  of  Korean  women, 
^ 157 

Geography  and  history  of  Ko- 
rea, 25 


Giles,  William  R. — Independ- 
ence movement  and  atroc- 
ities, 225 

Massacres  in  Southern  Ko- 
rea, 232 

Greenbie,  Sidney — Land  seiz- 
ures, 115 

Japanese  stewards  in  Korean 
families,  121 

Japanese  versions  of  Korean 
geography  and  history,  137 

Independence  movement,  204 
Grifl&s,  William  Elliot — educa- 
tional system,  37 

Japanese  methods  of  cover- 
ing abuses  by  official  re- 
ports, 244-245 

Japan’s  Debt  to  Korea,  137- 
138 


Hague  Conference  — Attempt 
of  Koreans  to  send  envoys 
to,  57 

Hersman,  Congressman  Hugh 
S.,  incident  at  Seoul  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  meeting,  261 
Hirst,  Dr.  J.  W. — as  to  Sever- 
ance Hospital  patients,  loi 
History  of  Korea,  32 
Hulbert,  Prof.  Homer  B. — 
ethnology  of  Koreans,  29 
Statement  printed  in  Con- 
gressional Record,  41 
Hull,  Peggy — on  modesty  of 
Korean  women,  99-100 
Hunt,  Frazier — quotation  from 
All  Korea  in  Revolt,  309- 
312 


Independence  Movement,  187 
Murder  of  Emperor  Yi,  193 
Forces  operating  at  confer- 
ence for  independence,  196 
Signers  of  declaration,  197, 
203 

Declaration  of  independence, 
199 


362 


INDEX 


Secrecy  of  Movement,  206 

Passive  character  of  demon- 
strations, 209 

Participation  of  Literati  and 
all  classes,  210 

Independence  newspaper,  215 

Independence  and  political  in- 
tegrity of  Korea  recog- 
nized by  Foreign  Powers, 
39 

By  China  and  Japan,  Treaty 
of  Shimonoseki,  1^5,  43 

By  Russia  and  Japan,  Treaty 
of  1898,  48 

By  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance, 
1902,  48 

By  Japan  in  Rescript  of  War 
against  Russia,  1904,  48 

By  Japan  in  Treaty  with  Ko- 
rea, February  23,  1904,  49 

By  Treaty  with  United  States 
in  1882,  328 

By  Treaties  with  European 
Powers,  338 

By  Japan  in  numerous  trea- 
ties listed,  339 

Indignities  to  women  and  girls 
— prisons  and  prison  tor- 
tures, 92 

Industrial  Arts — development 
of  fundamentals  in  Korea, 
28 

Writing — Metal  type — Print- 
ing— Mariner’s  Compass — 
Astronomical  instruments 
— Weaving — Silk  culture — 
Leather  harness  — Ore 
smelting — Pottery — Money 
as  medium  of  exchange — 
Fortifications — Bomb  shells 
— Iron  clads  — Porcelain, 

35-36 

International  Postal  Union — 
Korea  admitted  in  1898,  40 

International  question — Korean 
question  considered  from 
purely  legal  standpoint, 
59-60 

Japan  Advertiser — quotation  on 


Independence  Movement, 
227 

Japan  Chronicle — quotation  on 
violation  of  Korean  women 
by  Gendarmerie  of  Japan, 

67 

Japanese  Propaganda  — edi- 
torial atrocity,  226-227 
“ Speaking  officially,”  241 
Opening  private  letters,  242 
Control  of  postal  system,  242 
Press  Bureaus  and  Press 
Agents,  250 

As  to  missionary  participa- 
tion in  movement  for  Inde- 
pendence, 179 

Jones,  Dr.  George  H. — quota- 
tion on  racial  distinctions, 

132 

Keane,  a.  H. — quotation  on 
racial  distinctions,  28 

Korea — geography,  25 

Korean  Conspiracy  Case,  164 

Korean  Courage — quoted  from 
British  Observer,  288 

Korean  Historical  Commission 
— from  reports  of  Japanese 
invasions  of  Korea,  42 
Suppression  of  publications, 
128 

Land  seizures,  112 

Lodge,  Hon.  Henry  Cabot — 
“ Vital  omission  in  all  Jap- 
anese Promises  is — time,” 
283 

Longford,  J.  H. — quoted  from 
Evolution  of  New  Japan, 
43 

Lj-uh,  W.  H.— in  Japan,  313 

Manchuria  — Korean  emigra- 
tion into,  115-117 
Japanese  atrocities  against 
Koreans  in,  229-230,  318- 

319 

Martin,  Dr.  \ S.  H. — statement 
as  to  villages  destrojed, 
276 


INDEX 


363 


Massacres,  231-237,  276,  354 
Maungsan — atrocities  in,  231 
McClatchy,  V.  S. — on  Jap- 
anese propaganda,  250 
On  independence  movement, 
199 

McCormick,  Elsie — on  Korean 
conditions  and  Japanese  at- 
tempts to  cover,  243-249 
Observations  in  Korea,  307- 

309 

On  Japanese  educational  sys- 
tem in  Korea,  143-144 
MacKenzie,  F.  A. — quotations 
from  Tragedy  of  Korea: 
Opium,  151-152 
Persecution  of  Missionaries, 

173-175 

Korean  Courage,  188 
Missionary  Review — quoted  on 
social  evils,  146 

Miura,  Viscount  — Japanese 
Minister,  trial  for  murder 
of  Queen,  46 
Text  of  proceedings,  322 
Moffett,  Dr.  Samuel  A.,  180 
Mowry  case  — American  ar- 
rested for  harbouring  Ko- 
reans, 183-184 

NaTionai,  Debt  of  Korea  in- 
creased under  Japanese, 
106 

Details,  341 

Newspapers  in  Korea  sup- 
pressed, 126 

New  York  Times  Current  His- 
tory— on  murder  of  Queen, 
45 

New  York  Tribune — on  Ko- 
reans in  Manchuria  and 
Siberia,  189-190 
Norris,  Hon.  George  W. — 
Speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  71 

Open  door  inaugurated  in  Ko- 
rea— treaties  with  other 
nations,  38 

Osborne,  Hon,  Henry  Z. — 


Speech  in  U.  S.  House  of 
Representatives,  263-264 

Pacific  Commercial  Advertiser 
— on  Japanese  propaganda 
to  prevent  investigations  by 
Congressional  Party,  259- 
260 

Passive  Demonstrations,  214 
Peffer,  Nathaniel — on  Japanese 
officials  in  Korea,  64 

On  prisons  and  prison  tor- 
tures, 87 

Destruction  of  Korean  His- 
tory, 126 

Suppression  of  Korean  So- 
cieties, 128 

No  freedom  of  speech,  129- 
130 

Japanese  petty  control  of 
schools,  140 

Independence  newspaper,  215 

Japanese  idea  of  reform, 
281-282 

Present  situation  in  Korea, 
302-307 

Philadelphia  Ledger — on  par- 
ticipation of  Japanese  fire- 
men to  suppress  passive 
demonstrations,  217 
Pieters,  Rev.Albertus — on  mas- 
sacres, 238-240 

Pinson,  Dr.  W.  W. — Comment 
on  Korean  “ Conspiracy 
Case,”  162-163 
Population  of  Korea,  31-32 
Porter,  Hon.  Stephen  G. 
(Chairman  Foreign  Affairs 
Committee,  House),  speech 
quoted,  263-264 

Postal  system — control  of  mails 
and  opening  of  private 
letters,  242 

Korea  admitted  to  Interna- 
tional Postal  Union,  40 
Preliminary  Examinations — 

tortures  during,  72,  86 
Presbyterian  Missionary — quo- 
tation from  letter  of,  loi- 

105 


364 


INDEX 


Presbyterian  Mission  Reports — 
on  Korean  emigration  to 
Manchuria,  116-117 
Persecutions  of  the  Church, 
171-172 

Prisons  and  Prison  Tortures — 
practice — incidents,  87 
Indignities  to  women  and 
girls,  92 

Filth  and  congestion,  100- 
J02 

Productions  of  Korea,  27 

Protectorate  forced  on  Korea 
by  Japan,  51 

Provisional  Government — Con- 
stitution adopted  and  OA5- 
cials  elected,  21 1 

Publications  — Censorship  of 
Korean,  126,  274-275 

Queen,  Assassination  of,  45-47 

Racial  distinctions  (See  eth- 
nology), 28 

Railroads  in  Korea,  40 

Reforms  in  Korea  — Military 
and  Civil  Party  in  Japan — 
Public  orders — Secret  in- 
structions, 256 

Japan’s  Alleged  Reforms,  266 
Change  of  name  of  “ Mili- 
tai^  ” to  “ Civil,”  269 
Oflficial  orders,  270-271 
Honoraria  for  criminal  of- 
ficials, 279 

Religions  of  Korea,  32 

Rhee,  Dr.  Syngman — President 
of  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, 211-212 

Schofield,  Dr.  Frank  W. — on 
flogging  and  atrocities,  75 
Destruction  of  historical 
books,  125-126 
On  social  evils,  149 

Schools  (See  Educational  sys- 
tem), 131 

Scott,  Mrs.  Robertson — on  in- 
dependence movement  and 


Japanese  atrocities,  224- 
225 

Signers  of  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, 197,  203 
Social  Evils — introduced  and 
encouraged  by  Japanese, 

145 

Korea  flooded  with  licensed 
women,  148 

Dr,  Schofield’s  statistics — 
relative  morality,  149 
Opium  evil  fostered,  151 
Son  Byung  Hi,  198 
Spy  system  of  Japanese,  206- 
208 

Suchon — atrocities  in,  235 
Summary  Judgments  — (See 
Courts)  statistics,  71 
Suwon  District — atrocities  in, 
232 

Taxes  increased  under  Japan, 
106 

Details,  3^ 

Tisdale,  Alice — quotation  from 
A Korean  Highroad,  109 
Third  Degree — Japanized — pre- 
liminary examinations,  86 
Thomas,  Rev.  John — Case  of 
attack  on — Japanese  policy 
as  to  British  citizens,  185- 
186 

Thwing,  Rev.  Edw'ard  W. — on 
opium  traffic,  152-153 
On  independence  demonstra- 
tions, 220-222 

U.  S.  Congressional  Party — 
Visit  to  Korea — Japanese 
Suppression  of  Facts,  257 
Congressman  Hersman  inci- 
dent at  Seoul,  261-262 
Underwood,  Horace  G. — quo- 
tation from  Call  of  Korea, 
132 

Washington  Post  — Massacres 
continue  (Nov.  30,  1920), 
276 

Weale,  Putnam  — Quotation 


INDEX 


365 


from  Forces  Behind  Japan’s 
Imperialism,  115 
Welch,  Bishop  Herbert — on 
prisons  in  Korea,  loi 
On  relation  between  mission- 
aries and  independence 
movement,  178-179 
On  Japanese  judicial  system, 

72-73 

Weyl,  Walter  E. — on  Japanese 
educational  system  in  Ko- 
rea, 139 

On  Japanese  Policy  in  Korea, 
244 


Wha-su-ri — atrocities  in,  237 
Willoughby,  Prof.  W.  W. — 
quotation  from  Japan  and 
Korea,  50-51 

On  Japanese  seizure  of  Ko- 
rea, 59 

On  prosecution  of  mission- 
aries, i86 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  Reports — Quota- 
tion from  Japanese  Young 
Men  in  War  and  Peace, 
146 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Protestant  Mission  Stations  in  Korea  (Including  Two  in 
Manchuria  Where  the  Work  is  Carried  on  Among 
Koreans). 


366 


Map  of  Korea  Indicating  the  Centers  of  the  National  Movement 
for  Independence.  The  Number  of  Demonstrations  far  Ex- 
ceeds the  Number  of  Areas  Represented  on  This  Map. 

367 


